They Wouldn't Believe You
by Shadowjewel
Summary: To grow, to learn, to live...Some people go through life, and its twists and turns on their own...some do not... RealWorld ish ,Nosgoth crossover, set post Defiance
1. Wishes, dreams and fantasies

Disclaimer: You know the drill; I don't own Legacy of Kain or its characters. I do however own my original characters in this fic so hands off people, they're mine! smug smile ;)

EN: Yes, I know, another of those 'crossing the boundaries/ real world' fic thingies, but hand on heart I do intend to make a decent attempt at this one, really! Maybe it will go horribly wrong and maybe not. I would cross my fingers, but it makes typing hard! This isn't supposed to be a 'Mary Sue' fic, Brianne is not meant to based on me at all, though some of my personality will probably find its way in there one way or another shrugs.

Im am so fussy when it comes to keeping people in character, everything from how they react to a given situation to their speech patterns, however in the first few chapters or so (don't know how many yet I'll just have to see how it develops) there may look like a distinct lack of characterisation happening but trust me there is very good reason for this and it will be explained as the story progresses, trust me I have this mapped out already.

EN the 2nd:Originally the main Character's name was Sara, but I changed it to Brianne on account of me thinking the first one was a bit, well, boring, Mary-sue ish and a good browse through an online name database came up with a much more fitting option. I have tried to track down and change all of the 'Sara' s in first few chapters but if you spot one I missed please let me know where and I will correct it.

EN the 3rd :Sorry if I have messed up the spelling/gramma but I am really heavily dependent on spell check, without it my entire screen is a red glare of badly spelled words. I have tried to fix it so it doesn't distract from the story but if something stands out that I missed again please let me know.

WARNING! Rated for language (though not much, I think), at least for now, the rating may go up later for violence, horror and other adult themes, though I can't say for certain yet. Contains spoilers for all LOK games! (Particularly Soal Reaver 2 in this chapter.)

**They wouldn't believe you **

Chapter 1: Wishes, dreams and fantasies

For everyone, there is a point were you just can't take any more; you loose your patience, and snap!

"No! You stupid… kill 'im! Kill 'im! …Ahhrr! No, stop that! Leave me alone! Back off!"

The Reaver practically roared as its foes fell before it; each death fuelled its power and its hunger. Unfortunately, each soul that the blade devoured meant one less opportunity for Raziel to feed and it took the Reaver one step closer to turning on him.

"Right, that's enough of you…"

Quickly dropping out of the fighting stance, Raziel leaped high over the heads of the remaining Sarafan, dashed to one of their fallen comrades and grabbing his abandoned sword he spun to face the remainder of the patrol. The first Sarafan, who had already been injured, tried a forward thrust which was easily sidestepped and countered with a triple swing, a kick to the legs and an uppercut before he was out for the count. The next suicidal tinman then seemed to opt for a more strategic approach as he circled round Raziel as if sizing him up. Any hopes for a more interesting fight were quickly dashed however, as the fool opted for the exact same starter move as his predecessor, with as much (or little) success. Raziel, in turn, countered with an uppercut, a vicious downward slash, followed up by a low kick and…

"Hay! Damn it, you're not supposed to jump!"

Brianne Aisling McCarthy, or Anne to her friends, bashed angrily at the control as Raziel swung at the Sarafan on the screen in front of her. It had been a long and lonely day for her and she had been venting her frustrations on the game for some time now. She loved the power in games like this, to take on the role of something so strong, a creature a few steps removed from humanity. It was safe, a fantasy in which you could kill, pillage and plunder, take on the role of a vicious predator without actually hurting anyone. Along with the others in the series it was by far one of the most addictive games she owned.

"Come on, come on…" She urged under her breath as her fingers flew across the keys. She was sitting cross legged on her bed, leaning attentively towards the screen at the end of it. She was wearing the mismatched T-shirt and baggy trousers that she slept in. Scattered around her were some of many varied books in her collection, from '_Anatomy for the Artist'_ and '_Skills for Life;_ _Confidence and Assertiveness' _to '_How to See and Read Auras'_ and '_Natures Magic: a Beginner's Guide'_, not to mention the vast horde of fantasy and sci-fi books she was collecting.

On screen one of the Sarafan managed to slip past Raziels defences and knock him to the ground.

"Ooh! Bastard!"

"Brianne! Would you please keep it down in there; _some_ of us are trying to work!" Came the bellow of a female voice from downstairs. Embarrassed and more than a little annoyed Brianne paused the game with only two out of six Sarafan left and let out a controlled breath. _Typical! _

"Alright mom!" She called back, keeping the sarcasm out of her voice.

"And besides, it's getting late; you should have turned that thing off over an hour ago. For crying out loud girl, you're going out tomorrow, or had you forgotten?" the voice snapped.

Brianne glanced at the clock and winced. 11:51pm. she was supposed to have switched the game off at ten… well, in theory anyway. Oh well.

She looked at the frozen screen wistfully; _I wish I could have a chance at something like that, something great, heroic, instead of being the one who has to take a back seat, the one who is ignored. At least they can say that they have done something, that they have lived... Even if they are undead._

She was about to start to play again but paused, reconsidering. It _was_ getting late considering she did have a lot to do tomorrow and she had only saved between five to ten minuets ago and since she so enjoyed killing Sarafan… She shrugged and hit the power button and cleared away her books before climbing into bed.

Sleep was unusually quick to settle that night.

* * *

_Racing up a rough hewn rock tunnel Brianne could hear her foot steps eco around her, sounding far too loud and yet distant. She felt a strange, calm urgency, like when the clock is ticking but you know you will make it so long as you hurry. Looking around she could see metallic threads weaving in and out of the chipped stone on every surface that seemed to glow and pulse with energy. Everywhere the threads would twist and bend to form numbers and letters, most were in English, others she could not read yet they were still strangely familiar. The passage was lit by an eerie white glow that emanated from up ahead giving the impression that the tunnel opened up into wintry daylight just round the next bend but it was never so. _

_Running, running, on and on, round countless twists and turns, the path rising constantly yet she felt as though she might as well have been racing in circles for all it mattered._

_As she ran, a slight detail in the silver threads, in their letters and numbers, kept nagging at the edge of her perception, drawing her eyes away from the glow up ahead. Looking down, she noticed the letters first. She watched the floor in front of her as she ran; for a few steps the only recognisable letter was 'A' then the 'A's stopped and there were only 'B's, then 'C's, then 'D's then back to 'A' and so on. The numbers were following the same pattern, first '9' then '8' then '7' and back to '9'. Although she could not read them, she could see that the other alphabet was also following the same repetitive pattern. _

_Hours seemed to pass and still she ran straining to reach a seemingly impossible goal…_

Everything grew brighter, the tunnel more distant as new sound filtered through to her unconscious mind. Her vision blurred then went dark as the new sounds grew stronger, replacing the old. So, as there was little else to do, she turned her bleary, wavering attention to the new sounds… a voice…

"…up…Anne…awake yet? ...Hay Brianne!"

"Wha? Mom? Wha'timeisit?"

"About 10:15.Your lucky you don't have to go to collage today, you're usually at least _half_ awake by now but you were out like a light!"

"Oh err, funny dream… what were you saying?" She asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and stubbornly trying to do the same to her mind.

"It's Halloween, remember; your party…" She prompted sounding a little annoyed about something, _probably work again_, Brianne thought with a mental sigh.

"Oh… Oh yeah! The… party… right…" Brianne mumbled back, trying to fight a yawn. Her mother just shook her head and flung the curtains aside, ignoring Brianne's protests.

"Oh come on, you're not a vampire, despite all rumour and evidence to the contrary. Up!" With that last comment she left the room, muttering to herself.

Smirking a little about the vampire comment, Brianne grabbed the clothes that she had set aside the night before and headed for the bathroom. All the wile she thought about that dream and the strange, eerie feeling that had followed it - And where on earth had she seen those strange symbols before?

* * *

The rest of the morning passed quickly as Brianne double checked her list of what to take to the party, even though it had all been sorted the night before. Her mother, who had just finished putting the final touches on her report walked in just as Brianne was packing the last of the things that she would be taking. "What do you think you are doing with those? Last I heard you didn't take computer games to parties, its unsociable." she scolded, pausing momentarily to glance at the last of the things her daughter was packing. 

"Well, Terri is a fan of the game, but hasn't had time to play lately and there are usually an hour or so free before evening. She's only seen the Soul Reaver 2 ending once and when I told her how far through the game I was she asked that I bring it so she could watch too. Besides Halloween and vampires do kinda go well together." She explained, keeping her voice even and neutral as she stashed the last game amidst a protective woolly jumper alongside the rest of her Legacy of Kain stash.

"Forget it then." Her mother said, no longer paying any real attention to her daughter as grabbed some papers off the cupboard. Brianne simply continued with the task at hand. "Well any way," her mother said as she clipped up her briefcase "I just wanted to say goodbye; I'm going out now and I won't be back before you leave. I'm headed over to London to speak to some of our officials so I'll see you later this week."

"Oh, right, well see you then." Brianne replied as she made certain her 'horde' was well padded and secure as her mother breezed past and out the door. Without so much as a final good bye her mother left, taking her hefty looking briefcase with her. She watched as she pulled out of the drive taking their respectable little car with her, grateful she was going to be getting a lift later.

* * *

Eleven am was the pre arranged time when Terri, Brianne's friend, would be round to take them both to Terri's grandmother's home where the party was being held and she was already almost three quarters of an hour late. By this time Brianne had long since settled herself down with her art folder and was happily finishing a sketch of a certain white hared vampire king. It was soothing, the repetitive yet varied way the pencil strokes could be used to fill in shadows and give the illusion of texture to flat paper. Finishing the last of the detail on his face she thought, _'He's lucky. I wish I cold experience the kind of adventure he has. He is among the most powerful warriors his world has ever seen, he has ruled over an entire empire and despite the forces stacked against him he has the courage and the strength to fight them.' _She had gotten so engrossed in her work and her own thoughts that she did not notice when Terri's car pulled on to the drive or even hear when the car door was shut. She did hear the doorbell however, which was enough to make her jump. 

"Damn it!" She did a quick check to make certain that her precious picture had not been damaged or spoiled, which it wasn't, thankfully. Setting it aside she went to let her friend in.

Terri was all smiles and enthusiastic greetings as soon as the door was opened. "Oh Anne, how are you? Sorry I'm late I was talking to a friend on the phone and just got completely carried away. It's great to see you again, how you been? You all packed and ready?" She said as she peered over Brianne's shoulder to look at the couple of bags that were lining the hallway.

"Yes, I'm ready. No need to fuss." Brianne said, barely able to finish her sentence before Terri quickly began a rapid fire monologue of everything that had happened since the last time they talked, from family bickering to potential boyfriends, gaming progress to new finds in magazines as Brianne's bags were loaded into her car. Brianne's heart wasn't really into listening to her however and they had barely pulled on to the main road when an unusual fatigue overcame her and she drifted into a restless sleep.

* * *

_The dream… she was there again. It was the same rough tunnel with its glowing silver threads that snaked their way over every surface and twisted themselves into letters and numbers of two different languages. She was still running, up and up towards that strange, cold light. Everything was just as it was last time; except for the patterns that the threads formed. Instead of 'A', 'B', 'C' and 'D' there was 'E', 'F', 'G' and 'H'. And instead of '9', '8' and '7' there was '6', '5', and '4'. The symbols from the other alphabet had also changed. She noticed that there were now equal amounts of the English and the unknown letters and numbers. She ran harder this time, there was something that she was looking for, that she really wanted to find, but honestly had no idea what it was._

The car lurched slightly and Brianne jerked awake. The memory of the dream did not fade.

"Isn't that a sight for sore eyes eh, Anne?" Terri asked as Brianne tried to gather her wits and refocus her eyes. They had arrived at Terri's Grandmothers home.

"What? Oh! Um, yes, been too long." She muttered as they got out of the car. Brianne glanced up the drive to see an older woman of medium height and build wearing a long dark skirt and a purple wool jumper. Her hair was a bob of silver on her head that almost looked like a silver halo. It was Terri's grandmother. Terri jogged over to meet her elderly relative leaving Brianne to gather her things on her own.

Taking her bags from the back seat of the car Brianne turned toward Terri's grandmother or Annabel to her friends, and to her house looming beyond.

Though in all honesty, you could only use the term 'house' lightly when referring to Grandma Annabel's home, Brianne mused; a mansion would be a much better term for it. With (among other things) about ten bedrooms in total, an enormous dining room, a reception, study, two full sized bathrooms and another two separate loos and not to mention the rooms with on suites and a cool and kind of creepy cellar of mind boggling proportions (not even Terri had explored all of it), this was no mere house. Annabel was, of course not the only resident there. Terri's Aunt Janet (Jan for short) was a permanent resident, as was one of Annabel's life long friends Julie, other family members often paid regular visits so it was rare for there to be less than four people living in the house at once not including the people who rented rooms and the few staff employed from the village.

Bags in hand, she made her way down the tidy but not too 'posh' gravel drive up to the main entrance. There she were greeted by Annabel, Terri had already gone inside. She had a kindly 'wise woman' look about her.

"Ah, Brianne it's about time, Terri didn't hold you up too long did she? Good to see you. Were have you been all this time? That boy of yours been keeping you too busy to come and visit your old friend, eh?" She said a smile in her eyes.

"Sorry Annabel, but you know, collage and all. As for Mick, well I'm not seeing him any more, or ever again if I have anything to say about it."

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that, not too sorry though,"she smiled fully now, " I always said you were too good for him. Still it wouldn't kill you to visit once in a wile, it's not like I don't have the room you know." this was accompanied by a gentle poke to the arm that made Brianne grin.

"Well perhaps in the holidays or when I have finished my collage corse."

"Hmm… Ah well. So what have you been doing these last couple of months, how have you been?"…

The conversation continued like this as Annabel lead her through the house to her room. More than once Brianne's mind wondered back to the dream in the car and the similar one that morning, as a curious fog loomed at the edge of her mind. It was like something was trying to lull her into a trance. Every time she pulled herself back out of it she caught Annabel looking at her, some times directly and some times just out of the corner of her eye.

* * *

Eventually they reached Brianne's rooms, passing by Terri's room on route. Terri was inside and so was a local lad, Frederic, who helped to clean the house on weekends. Terri only afforded them a momentary greeting before returning her attention and overly exaggerated charms on the helpless boy she had verbally pinned down like a butterfly. 

Brianne's room was the same one she had used every time she had slept over at Grandma Annabel's house. Brianne liked it because it had such a cosy feel to it and its traditional cottage stile appealed to her romantic side, not to mention that the view of the grounds belonging to the house and country side beyond was breathtaking. Also it was one of the rooms with an on suite bathroom which made it ideal to share with one or more of the other girls at these parties. Brianne usually shared with a girl called Mel, one of Terri's aunts who was only five or six years older than Terri herself. Dumping her things on one of the two beds currently set up in the room she turned back to Annabel who was still standing in the door. Brianne gestured to the second bed. "Isn't Mel here yet? I thought she was usually one of the first to arrive."

"No and I don't think she will be able to make it this year. Poor girl phoned this morning saying she's come down with flu and was in no state to drive. She sounded like it too. Paul won't be able to come either as he's volunteered to look after her, he said it didn't look too serious though, so no need to worry." Annabel voice was normal enough when she said this but Brianne knew her well enough to see the shadow that flickered in her eyes.

"Oh that's good, pity they won't be able to make it. I'm missing Mel's fruit crumble already." Brianne added with a smile in an attempt to lighten the mood a little; Annabel's late husband had died of flu. Annabel chuckled and shook her head before pining Brianne with a searching, calculating look.

"And speaking of not feeling well are you sleeping alright dear? You look tired and you weren't entirely with us back there were you?" Annabel was using the classic 'concerned elderly relative' voice, guaranteed to make Brianne talk when it wasn't overdone, even though she and brianne weren't related.

"Um, not exactly…" Brianne mumbled, her eyes fixing on the floor in front of her. " I don't know. I had a strange dream this morning and when I woke I wasn't quite feeling myself. I fell asleep on the way here too and had the same dream again. Almost." She said her forehead knotting in a frown. She began playing with her hands in her lap, twiddling her thumbs and knotting her fingers.

"A dream? What happened?" Annabel asked, interested. She moved to sit on the bed next to Brianne.

"Well, I...I was running in this tunnel. The tunnel was sloping up into this light and there are silver threads on every surface that look like letters and numbers that keep repeating themselves as I run. And I felt like I was looking for something but I didn't know what, it was like that feeling when you know you have forgotten something but can't think of it."

"Yes I know the feeling only too well. Hmm. You said they were _almost_ the same, what was different?"

Brianne explained the difference in the silver threads to Annabel, about the different languages and the change in letters and numbers, her voice and expression becoming more distant as she remembered.

"You know, it almost sounds like some kind of count down." Annabel said, only half joking.

"Count down?"

"Hmm, that other language you mentioned, did you recognise it?"

"It was kinda familiar, but I can't remember where I have seen it before." Her mind had still not come up with anything even after half an hour of pondering on that dream.

"Well, I suggest you think seriously about that one, especially on a night like this." She laughed. "Halloween is more than just a good excuse to dress up and have a party you know."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks." Brianne replied with a smile though it didn't reach her eyes which still had more of a frown about them.

"Well anyway if you have another dream like that or you figure out that language you let me know ok dear?" Annabel said as she got up, reaching across to put a steadying hand on Brianne's still fidgeting ones. Brianne just smiled.

When Annabel reached the door she turned round. "You take care of yourself ok?"

"Ok."

Annabel smiled kindly before closing the door behind her.

Brianne fell back onto the bed her eyes closed, bringing her hand up to massage her temples. Her mind was racing but going nowhere, just like her dreams. She remembered Annabel talking to her about of all the major holidays and in this instance about the history of Halloween. She remembered Annabel saying that originally it was the pagan festival of the dead, a day when the boundaries between worlds was particularly thin and deceased loved ones could come back and feast with their living friends and relatives at the banquet held on that night. _But what on earth has that got to do with those dreams?

* * *

_

The rest of the day passed as swiftly as Brianne had thought it would. Barely fifteen minuets had gone by after she had been shown her room when Terri's aunt Janet came knocking at her door asking that she help prepare some of the food for later, Brianne agreed as it was only fair since she was going to be eating some of it later that night. Two fruit pies, one joint of roast beef, five different dips and susses and one fruit cake later she was whisked off to help set up furniture and decorations in the back garden were the party was being held. She wasn't alone in this though, absolutely everyone who had already arrived ended up helping out in someway, even little Tessa, Terri's baby sister, helped by holding one end of the long ribbons her grandmother was using to decorate the main banister.

Brianne was finally released from duty approximately one hour before dark and soon after Terri joined her in her room to begin their prearranged Soul Reaver 2 session.

"So how far through are you now?" Terri asked as the game started up.

"The save before Janos Audron's retreat. Buckle up."

"Eesh, you couldn't have done that earlier? Then again, Janos Audron's scene… Play on! I can wait."

"Thought you would wana' see that."

* * *

The girls were staring at the TV attentively saying things like "go on, take him!" and "your going down!" when Annabel opened the door to Brianne's room. 

"Alright, come on girls, pause that now. Everyone is here, we're about to start."

"What! You have to be kidding!" Brianne moaned while Terri just stared in blank horror for a moment before groaning and shaking her head.

On screen Raziel was now armed with the original blood Reaver and they had just taken out Sarafan Turel.

"Oh come on! Just ten more minuets, please Grandma." Terri pleaded.

"Absolutely not. Pause, now. You can come back to it after the main meal is done."

"But Grandma…"

"No 'buts'. I am the hostess am I not? My rules. Come, now." Annabel said in her best 'elderly-relative-that-isn't-going to-take-any-nonsense-from-you-youngun's' voice, while she valiantly fought to suppress a grin.

"Alright, alright, later then." Terri groaned, sagging a little.

"That's all I ask dear."

Very reluctantly the girls paused the game in the corridor before Raziel's confrontation with his former self and put the monitor on standby. With a regretful and almost longing backward glance at the dark TV screen the two were marched out of the room by their elderly hostess.

* * *

The sky was unusually clear, the stars were just beginning to show themselves as the twilight faded and everyone was wrapped up warm for a cold but beautiful night. The night progressed and the bonfire was lit, the tables lade almost to breaking point with food as the music started up. All about the grounds the trees swayed in a breeze not quite strong enough to be considered blustery, adding an eerie, surreal backing track to the music that played and tricked the eye into thinking it saw something when there was nothing there. No moon showed that night, though that only added to the brilliance of the stars, which, being so far from any city or town could be fully appreciated. 

The night was truly a beautiful one, yet Brianne, who would usually have been quick to appreciate and enjoy the occasion found herself… distracted, tired yet alert, as though she was hovering on the edge of a trance. She ate her meal and laughed with friends who had dressed for the occasion as witches and vampires and monsters from across the globe. Yet more and more as the evening wore on her mind wondered and more that once caught herself completely ignoring the people and conversations around her. Every so often she would see Annabel looking at her though she averted her gaze if Brianne looked in her direction.

Terri was in full party mode, laughing and dancing with the best of them and gradually eating her way through a respectable amount of food. But even with the party in full swing she still noticed her friend's distracted mood and her grandmothers concern. By the time the main meal was being cleared and the deserts were being loaded onto the long suffering dinner table Terri was starting to get worried. She walked over to where her Grandmother was sitting under an arch way that was covered with climbing roses, honeysuckle and fairy lights. Annabel herself was slowly sipping her way through a glass of white wine, her thoughtful gaze fixed on Brianne.

"I'm worried about Anne; I think she might be coming down with something. I know she's normally a little withdrawn but this is ridiculous." Terri said in a low voice, her eyes darting to the girl in question.

"I'm not entirely certain if she is physically sick or not, did she tell you about the dreams she has been having?" Annabel asked in an equally low voice her eyes never leaving Brianne.

"You mean the one she had this morning and on the way here, the one in the tunnel? Yeah she told me about it after you kicked us off the playstation. Why do you ask? You don't think that's got anything to do with that do you?" Terri said, sceptical.

"I don't know." Annabel paused, her frown deepening as she looked at Brianne who had fallen into another trance. "Ever since she got here I have noticed an energy about her, like nothing I have seen or felt before… except perhaps… no, no that was different, familiar. This is… foreign, alien even. I don't understand it."

"What? Energy? You mean like auras and stuff?" Terri asked in a whisper, hesitant.

"More or less." Annabel replied not really paying much attention to her granddaughter.

Terri was doubtful. "Really? You really think you can see that kind of thing?"

"Yes, really." Annabel said, her found deepening.

"I've heard about people that believe in that kind of thing but grandma…"

"Terri," Annabel interrupted, sternly, "I think you should take Brianne up to her room before she falls asleep were she sits. Don't you?"

"What? Oh… uh, Ok."

Still somewhat bewildered by her grandmother, Terri made her way over to her friend who had just shaken herself out of her trance and was talking politely to one of Terri's cousins next to her. Still, Brianne only noticed that Terri was there when she was standing right next to her.

"Oh, hi Terri didn't see you."

"Uh huh, noticed." Terri said as she pulled Brianne to her feet and steered her inside.

"Hay, what? What are you doing?"

"Just wana talk without eavesdroppers." Terri said as they got inside. "You feeling ok Anne? You keep zoning out, you're just not with it. Grandma says you should go lie down, you look absolutely knackered!"

"Um, I don't know. I do feel kinda tired I guess. I'm just so out of it tonight and I don't know why." Brianne said with a fake laugh, her hand at her temples, feeling just as dazed as she probably looked.

"Perhaps you should head up, you really did look like you were falling asleep a minute ago." Terri said, discarding the 'other' part of the conversation with her grandmother.

"Yeah, perhaps you're right. No promises I won't be back down later, you can get rid of me that easily." Brianne said with a smile, if a somewhat half-hearted one.

"Oh I hope so. You want me to walk you up to your room?"

"Oh no, thanks. I know the way fine and I'm not going to pass out on the way there. I'm not that bad."

"Well, ok. See ya soon." Terri said edging her way back outside.

"Night." Brianne turned towards the stairs, shaking her head to try and clear it of the fog that seemed to be closing in on her. Terri watched her leave before turning back to the party.

* * *

Lying in bed later Brianne was staring at the ceiling, the feeling of being in some kind of trance back full force. Yet she couldn't sleep. Shaking her self out of her stupor she glanced at the glowing numbers of the clock; 11:46. Strangely the motion of doing this seemed to clear her mind more than it had been in hours. She sat up and looked down to the far side of the room at the TV and PS2 that had been set up. The game was still running and the loud humming from the consol was beginning to annoy her. Climbing out of bed she walked over to the game she was about to switch it off but hesitated remembering where it had been paused. With a slight groan she switched the TV on and picked up the controller, silently cursing the woman who came up with the idea for the game (but never meant any of it). 

Un-pausing the game she guided the digital avatar of Raziel down the corridor to the door through which his earlier incarnation waited. As the cut scene played Brianne yawned and stretched when a slight pang of dizziness struck her, but only momentarily. It was over almost as soon as it began so she dismissed it as the final battle commenced.

The battle was slow going as Brianne's current state of mind meant that her reflexes and concentration were not what they should have been and she was thankful that wraith Raziel was now invincible. As she played she thought about one of the issues she sympathised with Raziel on; the past. She had things in her past that she did not like and wished she could just leave behind her, like every one does. But she couldn't let go as easily as other people could, especially considering that the things she wanted to leave behind had occurred though out ninety percent of her life, starting when her dad died, and despite what her mother would say she did remember him. _'How do you do it Raziel? How do you let go so easily? I wish you could show me, help me let go and find a new life, a new identity for myself. Ha! Just imagine what you would be like as someone's mentor, now that I would like to see._ Almost ten minuets had passed when she finally defeated Raziel's counterpart and just as the final cut scene began another wave of dizziness struck her and this time it wasn't mild or passing.

Crying out in surprise Brianne fell forward as the world around her seemed to lose all notion of gravity and direction. Bracing her hands on the ground she desperately tried to still her spinning head, wile onscreen the cut scene continued to play. The sense of vertigo increased and without thinking she paused the game, dropped the controller and crawled back to her bed, hugging the ground. On screen the game had paused with both Raziel and his sire, Kain, in frame, at the point when Kain was trying to warn Raziel not to revive Janos as he had intended, before Raziel was forced back to the spectral realm. Pulling herself up Brianne dragged herself onto the bed but didn't bother with the cover as the world continued to spin and then darken.

* * *

_The dream! She was back, running up the tunnel just as before. Quickly she turned her attention to the silver threads that still dominated the tunnel. The letter 'I' and the number '3' where displayed amidst the foreign alphabet but not many. Now the English characters were in minority and the alien alphabet dominated. Brianne was griped with a strange and sudden sense of excitement and she slowed her pace to a walk as though afraid that she might pass the object of her search right by. As she walked she kept her gaze off the light ahead and watched the threads instead. The 'I's became 'J's and soon after the '3's became '2's. Annabel said it sounded like a countdown. But a countdown to what? 'J's to 'K's. Glancing up ahead Brianne saw that there was no change to the light ahead. _'It's unimportant' _she thought to herself and turned her attention back to the threads. 'K' to 'L' then the '2's to '1's. Brianne kept walking and watching as the 'L's changed to 'M' and as it did so the threads began to pulse with new energy and the tunnel became brighter. Then, simultaneously the 'M's became 'N's and the '1's became '0' and the threads that formed them glowed and pulsed so brightly it was as though the light and power of the stars flowed through them. Brianne stopped and gazed at them in wonder, _'is this it?' 

_Looking ahead as far as the twisting tunnel would allow she saw that the threads changed dramatically, the repetitive pattern of both alphabets stopping and giving way to simple random curves and lines. Yet all around her the light glowed and pulsed and she _knew _this was what she had been looking for. Reaching out to the wall next to her she lightly brushed her fingers over one of the threads that had twisted itself in to the shape to the letter 'N'. Suddenly the threads moved and seemed to take on a life of their own, twisting and writhing towards the spot she had just touched. Brianne stepped back hastily and watched as the threads pooled together like tiny streams of mercury into one solid mass on the wall. The mass grew as more of the threads joined it leaving bare walls in their wake. Brianne stepped forward hesitantly as the mass shaped itself into a orb embedded into the wall, its surface stilling and becoming mirror like in its colour and texture but it reflected neither Brianne nor the tunnel around her. _

_She moved closer, peering into the sphere. Like mist lifting in the morning sun the silver sheen drew back before her gaze revealing breathtaking images of snow toped mountains, endless seas of forest and desolate wasteland. Entranced Brianne slowly drew her hand up as mysterious swamp land and medieval villages came into view one after the other, the child in her wondering if she touched it than maybe she could make it real. Then just as her hand touched the surface of the shimmering sphere a final image came into view, one that she could have recognised anywhere. Her eyes widened as nine pristine white pillars that seemed to reach up forever rolled into view and then, just as soon as they had appeared she saw their destruction, saw their fall and decay. A brilliant white light exploded from the sphere engulfing her as one thought reverberated round her head in utter bewilderment... _

'_Nosgoth!'_

Someone was calling to her and she recognised the voice, her memory however was either still asleep or refusing to cooperate since she couldn't remember who the voice belonged to. Slowly she opened her eyes hoping a visual cue might improve things. At first all she saw was blurred lights and shadows but eventually the blurriness receded and a face emerged. Brianne sighed with relief as her memory jump-started and recognition set in.

"Woah, hay Terri, what are you doing here? What time is it?" She mumbled, quickly noticing that the strange fogginess had finally lifted and her head was as clear as it had been more than a day ago.

Terri smiled, "About 9:30, how are you feeling? You look better."

"I feel a lot better, thanks. I think whatever it was is finally over." Brianne sat up and looked over to the TV at the other end of the room. The TV was off, she assumed Terri had switched it off when she had come in.

What on earth was that dream about, and since when did her dreams start drawing on game imagery like that?

"Oh by the way, " Terri said jerking her head towards the TV and game consol, "what happened to the game? When I came in to check on you this morning the TV was switched on to a blank channel and the PS2 had been switched off. What happened? You decide to do a little late night gaming and couldn't be bothered to turn off the TV?"

Brianne frowned. What? She remembered playing the game and pausing it during the cut scene when the dizziness had hit and not subsided - she didn't switch it off. She told Terri as much and both assumed that someone else had come in to look at the PS2, probably little Tessa.

"Oh well," Terri sighed as she got up "I'll have a word with her later. And since you're feeling better I'll leave you to get ready by your self." She said as she headed to the door. "I've got work to do downstairs anyway."

"Excuses." Brianne teased with a mock glare. Terri just laughed.

"No, really. Later." She replied as she went through the door.

"See you later." Brianne sent back. The door clicked shut behind Terri and Brianne took a deep breath where she sat on the bed and looked at the shelf were her games had been stacked. Those had defiantly been the pillars of Nosgoth in her dream and the 'countdown' had ended on 'N', N for Nosgoth. She had a hunch that the foreign alphabet was Nosgothian too. Climbing out of bed she walked over to her 'stash' and randomly picked a game from the series to try and find an example of the alphabet used in the games.

The game she chose crashed to the ground moments after she had picked it up and a startled, disbelieving cry escaped her lips. The game she had picked was Soul Reaver 2 but only the briefest of glances was needed to show that something was wrong with the box.

The image of Raziel was gone.

Not cut out, there was no black, white or any other colour Raziel shaped hole. He was just gone. It was as though it had been printed that way, with the pillars shown in all their detail and the moon glowing in the background. Brianne was drawn back away from the game, her hands over her mouth to keep herself from crying out, her eyes wide. _'No, this can't be right, it's a trick, and I know someone came in here last night. It's just a joke.' _Trembling she reached for the box and picked it up. It did look genuine, or a very good copy at least. Turning it over in her hands she looked at the back of the box and her eyes widened even more. Every singly picture of Raziel had been erased, and not just him- Kain's image was also gone.

'_No it can't be, it's a fake.' _

Opening the box with shaking hands she nearly dropped it again when she saw that the image on the book was in very much the same state as the cover of the box. There was a picture of the pillars with a slightly yellow cast, done in exquisite detail, but no Raziel. And the book, the paper, felt real. Shaking so badly now she feared she might collapse, she slowly, carefully sank to the ground, book and box in hand. Setting the box aside she opened the book only to find more of the same, every single image of Raziel and Kain were just… gone. Suddenly an idea struck. She had made notes in the back of the book, if it was a fake the notes would be gone and if, somehow it was real…

Her hands shaking so badly she was afraid she would tear it, she flipped to the back of the book. When she saw what was there she let go of the book, clamping her hands over her mouth as she stared at the accusing words written there in blue, black and red biro, in her hand writing. _'Impossible!' _It was like something snapped inside her and even as she reached for her other games she new what to expect. Defiance was the next in the series to come of the shelf. Gone, they were both gone, the cover was practically blank. The back of the box and the book inside were both the same. Blood Omen, Soul Reaver and Blood Omen 2 all yielded the same results. Kain and Raziel had both been erased from the very games they starred in.

Brianne was close to hyperventilating now, her body racked with involuntary tremors as the shock took its toll on her system. She just sat there, surrounded by the discarded, impossible games and their manuals not quite knowing what to make of it all.

Her mouth had gone bone dry so, still in shock and not knowing what on earth she could do with or about the games anyway, she decided to get a drink. After a moment of uncertainty as she stood up she dazedly made her way to the on suite bathroom. The door had been closed and she couldn't remember closing it. _'Probably my visitor from last night.'_ She thought dimly. She put her hand on the handle and pushed the door open but did not move afterward.

Brianne just stared, bug eyed and slack jawed at the white haired tower of menacing muscle, claws and yellow eyes that loomed in front of her. _'wha'!'_

"Brianne." When he spoke she could not have attempted to make out his tone of voice or his mood if she had wanted to. He had spoken. And after everything that had happened, from the dream, the games and finding him standing plain as day in her bathroom, this was just one step too far.

As if in slow motion she felt her knees give way, saw the world rush up and away from her and saw Kain… _'It can't be him, can it?'…_she saw him move forward as though to catch her. And, just before the world decided to go dark on her for the second time in 12 hours, she caught a glimpse of scarred blue flesh and brilliantly glowing white eyes… _'Raziel?'…_ If unconsciousness hadn't claimed her but a moment later she would have laughed.

TBC

EN: Squeals My First chapter of my first fanfiction! Yay!...Well, what do you think? Cringes Be gentle. Constructive criticism and practical advice is very welcome, particularly as its near impossible for me to find anyone were I live to help me with these babies.

**Notice:** I was going to wait till I had about 10 chapters of this story before I started to post it on account of the abysmal rate that I am able to write. However the possible presence of abug on my computer, and thus the possibility that I might lose what I already have (which is a heck of a lot), has caused me to bite the bullet and post anyway. Stuff im still working on will be saved on my email, a trick I used to get work between school and home, so I shouldn't lose anything. If the updates become infuriatingly slow its because I have a tendency to write long chapters at a very slow pace, which was why I was going to postpone posting this originally. Hopefully this will be fixed soon so I wont have to panic quite so much lol wish me luck and enjoy the story.


	2. Questions

They wouldn't believe you

Disclaimer: Um, is it necessary to go through this every time? I put a disclaimer at the start of this story, disclaiming the Nosgothian parts of it, so in theory shouldn't that apply to the whole thing? Hmm. Oh well, just in case... If its Nothgothian, I don't own it, if it's a reference to any other copyrighted dohickey, I don't own that either. I am making no profit from this and don't intend to either. This is purely for fun...and practice...and for the chance to share at least _one_ of the many, many, fanfictions in my head with other people who might enjoy it...yeah...ok, ok so pride is a factor in there too, but hay what artist, writer, whatever, isn't guilty of that? ;)

EN: By the way, this is meant to be set in England, simply because I live there and therefor it is much easer to write about things in the UK than in the USA, for example. If all goes according to plan then the location should be changing later, but I want to do a bit of research first :)

A huge thanks to my wonderful reviewers, it was a mega moral lift to get such a good response first time esp considering that Kain and Raziel didn't make an appearance till the last couple of paragraphs lol

Chapter 2: Questions

Brianne knew that voice and it wasn't Terri.

_Kain…_ It can't be. It's a dream. It's just a dream.

"No, this is not a dream, child, I assure you this is very real. Open your eyes, I know you are awake."

She heard his voice but quite frankly didn't want to; if she could hear him than either he really was, well, real or, she was completely and utterly mad. But there was something about his voice, something that took a moment for her to cotton on to. The tone of his voice was gentle, reassuring even. And that was a tone that he had NEVER used in the games. So it was not out of obedience to him, but out of sheer curiosity that she opened her eyes.

He was there, sitting on the edge of her bed, which she was currently lying on. She stared at him not all that differently to how she was staring at him earlier, bug eyes, slack jaw and all.

"If you scream I will knock you unconscious again. We really aren't in the position to be drawing attention to ourselves so soon, so if you are going to talk I suggest you keep your voice down." He was still quite calm, still gentle despite the warning, if a little ironic. _And wonders will never cease... _She thought numbly.

He really was very, very intimidating to look at in the flesh, especially when he was sitting so close to her. Why, and how, was he here?

'_They,'_ she corrected herself as a slight noise and movement at the door caused her to whip her head round to look.

She flinched. She could hardly believe it. If Kain was intimidating and frightening to look at than Raziel was little short of heart stopping-ly terrifying to behold. And if the initial shock didn't get you than morbid curiosity would, Brianne realised. Her eyes were drawn, as though against her will, to those things that the mind, and her stomach, would rather not see or know, not in real life where you eat and sleep, were your friends and family are and your future lay.

It was his eyes that ensnared her first, their unearthly glow drawing her like a beacon and held her gaze until her discomfort, and the tension that seemed to build the longer their eyes were locked, forced her to look away. But she didn't simply stop looking at him as she would have liked and hoped but instead her eyes continued their involuntary exploration past his face and over his body where the evidence of his descent through the abyss screamed of the pain he had endured from across the room. Her eyes glanced over his arms and legs where most, if not all, of his skin had been burned away leaving exposed muscle and sinew and were it not for the unusual colour, that sight alone might have been enough to turn her stomach. She noticed the way his old clan banner was draped around his face, the way it didn't fully hide the loss of his jaw and the strange, almost flattened shape to his skull because of it and the way it seemed to lengthen his neck. Her eyes glanced down again to exposed and protruding ribs and down further to the nothingness of his midriff, _'how on earth does his body support him? There can't be enough there to hold him up, can there?' _

She glanced back up at his face again and her breath caught in her throat. The expression in his eyes; pain, humiliation, sorrow… it was like a slap to the face for her and by her sharp intake of breath he probably knew it too. A small part of her mind that was not already overcome with shock wondered why he had allowed her to look at him like that. Why had he not interrupted her if he hated it so much? _Why_ did he hate it so much, and show it? He was the one who turned his head first, breaking the eye lock.

Suddenly just being there in the same room as them was too overwhelming for Brianne, too surreal and confusing and she needed out. Eyes beginning to water from the intensity and range of emotions coursing through her she scrambled up from the bed, her movements anything but graceful, and since Raziel was quite effectively blocking the door to the corridor she headed strait for the bathroom, stuttering an apology to him en route.

* * *

It was all so surreal, unreal. Brianne felt like she was drifting along in a sea of confused emotion for a while, her mind split in two. The logical, social, the part of her mind that was influenced by culture, the rational, had retreated into the background like a frighted animal from a forest fire, not gone, just distant. Her instinctual mind that ruled survival, the irrational and, interestingly, the emotional, had been pushed to the fore. She had never felt so high strung in her life.

It seemed like she had been in the bathroom for nearly an hour now. The tears had stopped though her eyes were still red and slightly puffy. She was surprised that neither of them had tried to stop her as she fled the room, more so when they had simply left her to it and not disturbed her since she had locked the bathroom door behind her. Brianne had not heard the door to the main room so she presumed that they were still there, '_not that they necessarily needed to use the door to get out'_ she thought, remembering their in-game abilities. She knew that she couldn't hide in the bathroom forever; that would be silly, aside from simply impractical. But the memory of seeing them in her room- their harsh, predatory features- brought sharply into focus within her mind exactly what they were and what they were capable of.

'_Oh gods, what will happen when either of them needs to feed?' _The thought chilled her to the very bone and she seriously considered staying in the bathroom and simply hoping they would go away. _'But what would that accomplish?'_ she though as she glanced at the door. Considering the kind of things those two were smashing their way through in the games the bathroom door might as well have been made of cardboard. Not a particularly comforting idea. Actually, a near panic inducing one, all things considering. _'Calm down Brianne, calm down. If you panic now it might get you killed. No don't think about it! No gory pictures, no, no, no! Be logical, they haven't hurt you yet and have left you alone in here to calm down.' _More images of Kain and Raziel flashed through her head. The feral gold of Kain's eyes as he looked down at her when she woke up after fainting, the flash of wicked fangs as he talked, fangs meant for killing- for killing people, humans, like me. _'Stop it! That's not helping!' _She brought her head down into her hands, a fresh wave of tears threatening.

Forcibly bringing that train of thought to a halt was like trying to push a car up a hill. Blinking back tears, she remembering her earlier encounter with them before she fled. Had they shown any hostility towards her? No. Quite the opposite. They had been patient and kind with her, relatively speaking, even Raziel during her inconsiderate and really rather rude inspection of him earlier. Where was the tyrannical vampire king and the vengeful soul stealing wraith that was portrayed in the games? Not that she was complaining considering the really very vulnerable position she was in at the moment, but… What the hell was going on!

Tired of hiding and needing answers she got up from her perch on the toilet lid and went to the sink to wash her face clear of tears. One thing that national geographic had taught her about dealing with predators that could feasiblely consider you lunch was never show weakness wile at the same time not to provoke them. She was well aware that it was probably too late for that but hay, better late than never. Besides, all they had seen of her was a dumb struck girl who had, in only a couple of hours, fainted, stared at them like they were some kind of never seen before mutant monsters on display in a zoo then run away and hid in the bathroom like a six-year-old. What a great first impression.

Looking in the mirror her reflection stared back at her, and what a sorry sight it was. Wildly unruly, frizzy hair stuck out at the most bizarre angles, like someone had stuck a scrunched up mass of hay to her head. Her eyes were indeed red and puffy as she had thought, the only good side being that the red from her tears made the green show up brighter, the only time her eyes really did look green and not grey. As for the rest of her face... slightly clammy looking skin, tear tracks, flushed... all in all, a mess. Turing on the cold water taps she scrubbed her face with the flannel, clearing away the evidence of her distress and the usual remains of sleep as best she could, attempting to clear her mind as well. Then grabbing the brush she ran it through her wild hair, attempting to force some semblance of control over it, hissing when she came across the frequent knots. Eventually discarding the brush she plated her hair into a braid that reached just to the bottom of her shoulder blades, scowling when even when she was done it still looked as wild as ever. Her hands where still trembling slightly as she ran them over her t-shirt and baggy trousers, trying to smooth out some of the creases. Looking at her reflection again she saw something much closer to the image she usually presented to world at large; neat(ish), fairly sensible looking, but with her ever frizzy hair she looked like a cross between a librarian and one of those pictures of girls working in the fields in the dark ages. Odd combination, not ugly but she was no model either. Brianne was just thankful she didn't need glasses, yet, that would well in truly set the 'librarian' stereotype in stone.

Finally deeming herself presentable or at least as presentable as possible in her pyjamas and no make up, she turned the lock on the door and, steeling herself, stepped somewhat hesitantly into the main room.

The first thing, or rather the first person, she saw was Raziel who was standing next to the window by her bed, hidden from the outside by the curtain. She still had to fight the impulse to cringe and was immensely grateful that she succeeded. Glancing away she immediately spotted Kain who had taken up Raziels former post, propping up the door out of the room. By the look of them she wouldn't have been surprised if they had just been talking, what about she had no idea. Leaning against the door frame to the bathroom, desperate to break the uncomfortable silence in the room she blurted out the first and most obvious in a long line of questions that were buzzing around her head.

"Why are you here?" She cringed inwardly at the rushed and too high pitched sound of her voice.

"You tell us." Was Kains cool, calm reply. Yet another awkward silence followed in which Brianne fought not to fidget until the next question made itself known.

"How did you know my name?" Kain smirked at this, but strangely enough it was not nasty or even unpleasant, his eyes were almost warm, or as close to warm as he could get. Brianne was having a tougher time reading Raziels expression but briefly, at least, she thought she saw a ghost of a smile in his eyes. "Well?" She prompted after nether of them said anything after awhile.

Raziel replied "Your name was written in one of the books that go with your… games." Her eyes darted towards him as he indicated the legacy of kain games that had been rearranged on the shelf next to the playstation 2; it was the first time she had heard him speak outside of the games and she could not help the small smile that graced her face, both at what he said and the sound of his voice which was, in her opinion, like an audio version of strawberries and milk chocolate, especially when he spoke in such soft tones.

_'Wait a second, they have seen my- their, games?' _This worried and disturbed her more than just a little. Although there was nothing in his voice or body language to suggest any bad response to it, finding out that your life, your troubles and pain were just a game to someone else was not something you just shrug your shoulders at. She would probably freak out big time if she ever discovered that her life was just entertainment to other people, and her life was nothing compared to theirs. Brianne frowned, "You have seen them, the games? You know what they are about?"

"Hard not to. To both questions."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

"Speaking for myself, not really. Not now." _''not now', What does he mean by that?_' She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Kain?"

He shrugged "Does it matter?" His voice was as calm as it had always been thus far, though as he said it he was looking at Raziel not Brianne, his eyes strangely intense.

Slightly confused Brianne said "I think it does. Why shouldn't it?"

Kain's eyes flickered to her, "Alright. It does disturb me but not as much as you may think. The realities of our two worlds, though obviously linked, are still separate and unique. The possibilities contained within alternate dimensions are boundless and you seem to live in a world of windows. That humans can look into key events in my life does not trouble me much either; in Nosgoth I had long accepted that individuals could look into my life as though opening a book, given the means, I have done so myself. It is the... casualness, that irks me most, that the events be reduced simple entertainment, a mere game. _That_ bothers me." He said, folding his arms across his broad chest, scowling slightly at said games.

"I don't see why," Raziel interjected smoothly, "You yourself have described the events of our world as a game in the past, that we are all just pawns with no say in the corse of our lives. Indeed, to the _Wheel,_ our world probably is little more than a play field." As he spoke, Brianne could almost feel the hatred for the 'Elder God' coming off him in waves.

"At lest in Nosgoth our 'game' is worth something," Kain snapped back at him, his voice taking on much harsher tones that anyone who has ever played the Legacy of Kain games would recognise; it sent cold shivers down Brianne's spine hearing it live. "It is our world, our lives, our destiny, and _that_ is what is at stake if we should lose. That-" he gestures sharply at the games, "-that is nothing. Worthless." Raziel turned to look back out the window not agreeing or disagreeing with Kain, keeping his thoughts to himself. Brianne sympathised with both of them but was saddened by Raziels now cynical view of his own world. Then a thought occurred to her from the cowering depths of her mind and she frowned, and said,

"But how did you know they belonged to me?"

"There was no one else staying in this room and they were covered in your scent." Kain replied calmly. Raziel glanced back at him from his spot by the window but only briefly.

"Oh." She didn't know what else to say to that. It made sense. Looking between the two her eyes came to rest on Kain, not only because it simply was a look easer to deal with looking at him than Raziel (something she couldn't help feeling a little guilty about) but also because there was something about him that seemed a little off, like there was something missing. It took as couple of seconds of her openly staring at him before it clicked. No Reaver. Brianne didn't know weather this was a good thing or not, only time would tell, unfortunately.

Brianne looked back at the games, they were set back on the shelves so only the spines were showing. "Did you do that? Put them back on the shelf?"

"Yes. We thought it would be wise seeing how much they distressed you." Kain said "Considering their subject it seemed plausible that whatever it was about them that caused such a violent reaction was linked to our arrival. I doubt it would be normal for them to induce such panic."

"Not to mention that if you reacted in such a way, there was no reason to think that the other people of your world would be any different. Better for all of us if we kept all trace of our presence reduced to a minimum, at least for now." Raziel added, turning back to face Brianne. "What was it about them that caused you to react the way you did? What changed?"

She looked between them slowly then back to the games. Stepping over to the shelf, she sat down in front of it with her back to Kain and Raziel for the first time since her retreat to the bathroom, staring at the row of games blankly. The titles displayed on their sides glared almost accusingly back at her.

Blood Omen, Soal Reaver, Blood Omen 2, Soal Reaver 2 and Defiance. All there, the entire collection thus far.

Gingerly she reached out and ran her fingers along them slowly. To her this was still the most eery and spine chilling of everything that had happened so far. The dreams she could have dismissed as simply the products of an over active mind too hocked on a supposed fantasy and the drowsy, trance like state of the day and night before could have been down to a temporary illness or something she had eaten. Even the presence of Kain and Raziel in the flesh was not as down right spooky as this. They were beyond the realms of the normal world as she knew it, thus a fair sized chunk of her mind had simply shied away from them, giving itself time to adjust perhaps. But the games had been there before this had all happened, they had been part of her life and had not changed in all that time and were never meant to change. But they had. Reality itself had warped around them to remove a vital element and transport it into her life, turning her world on its head. Her life had changed, and so had they.

Finally her hand settled on Soal Reaver 2, the game she had been playing the previous day when all this had started. She pulled it out from amongst its siblings and turned it over in her hands so she could see the cover.

Turning round so she was facing Kain and Raziel she held up the game, "There was a picture of Raziel on the cover, perched on the pillars in front of the moon." She turned it round, "And here, there were pictures on the back. Kain was shown here as well." She opened the box and pulled out the book. "And on the cover of the book it's the same. The background and the props remain but not the subject." She began flicking through the book. "All throughout it's the same. Every image of you, of both of you, has been erased but everything else is untouched." She put the book back in its box and put the box back on the shelf, sill very uncomfortable. "The others are no different. You are gone from all of them." She folded her hands in her lap, staring at them, her knuckles where white as she kept shifting her grip.

"And here we are." Kain sighed, bringing his hand to his temple. There was silence for a moment in which Raziel stepped forward to sit next to Brianne and pull a game off the shelf, Defiance incidently, and turned it round in his hands, just looking at it. Brianne tensed at having him so near and had to force herself to stay put and not back away from him. Very gently, considering the power in his hands and how poorly suited they were for the job, he pried open the box.

"How does it work?"

"Hmm?"

"It's a game isn't it? How do you play?"

"You- You really want to know?" She spluttered, rather stupidly. "Well, um, the game itself is on the disk. That's the round thing..." Brianne spent the next ten minuets explaining as much she could about how the games worked and how to play them culminating in her starting up the Soul Reaver 2 game again, as it was already in the machine and Brianne couldn't be bothered with such strenuous activities as changing a disk at the moment.

"I wonder if the game itself is affected in the same way the box and book are." Raziel wondered aloud as the PS2 started up.

"We'll soon find out." Kain said. He hadn't moved from next to the door.

Brianne didn't say anything. As the startup menu loaded she began to enter the bonus materials code but faltered as she did a double take at the screen. Fancy broken pillars, nice yellowish glow, no Raziel. Defiantly not limited to physical images then, the digital ones were fair game too. Still, an idea came into her mind so she entered the bonus materials' code anyway and went straight to the extras. Switching through the different menus, she loaded up the character concept art for Raziel. Interestingly the earlier concepts, the ones that looked least like the 'real' Raziel, as she now thought of him, were still there while the final concepts and promotional art had gone. But perhaps the most freakish thing were the ones in between, the ones that while recognisable were just not quite right. They were faded. The more similar the character was to the final the more transparent it was, sometimes with a particular emphasis on a specific feature if it was particularly close.

It was exactly the same with the concept art for Kain, not that Brianne expected it to be any different. So as it turned out the game, or at least its start menu and bonus features, was in _exactly_ the same state as its box and book. Although at this point Brianne really did not feel like testing this on the actual game itself, not yet. There was no reason to think it would not have changed in the same way as everything else but after so many major, earth shattering events in one morning she thought this one could be left until later. When Raziel asked about why she would not play she said as much to him and she was thankful when he left it at that.

She shut the game down and was about to put it back on the shelf when she thought about Terri. She would be expecting to play again before she left later and Brianne did not like the idea of her finding the games in this state. And she simply did not want to think about the possibility of Terri, or anyone else for that matter, walking in on Kain and Raziel as she had done.

Raziel noticed her pause and her worried face, "What is it?"

"I just don't want anyone else to see these. They may not respond as strongly as I did, but I doubt anything good would come of it."

"Could you hide them?" Kain said from behind her.

"I don't know if I should, it might be too obvious. But if I just leave them here someone will eventually see."

"Well, which would be worse?"

"Having someone find them. I think that would rase more questions than if they just disappeared." Brianne said with a touch of sarcasm, though there was not much energy in it. Scooping up all five games in her arms she carried them over to her bed and pulled out her travel bag. She stashed them away with the same care that she had originally packed them then took the entire bag into the bathroom and hid it in the cupboard beneath the sink.

As she closed the doors behind them it was as though a door closed inside her and she was suddenly exhausted, physically, emotionally, mentally exhausted. Sitting down in front of the sink she collapsed into herself, her head sinking into her hands in, among other things, absolute disbelief that it was still midmorning. Amazing how much can happen in such a short space of time.

The laughter came unbidden and unexpected, bubbling over with a will of its own from deep within her chest.

"Brianne?" Raziel was at the door, which she hadn't closed behind her anyway. _'Why is he here? Why does he look so concerned? For that matter, _how_ can he look so concerned, emotionally, physically, how? AND WHAT ON EARTH, NOSGOTH OR ANYWHERE IN BETWEEN IS GOING ON?' _The tears came as the laughter lessened but did not stop and her hands tightened their grip on her hair. She curled up into a tighter ball, burring her face into her lap, not wanting to see anymore and finally falling silent. She just wanted to shut it all out and pretend that the last twenty four hours had not happened, so she could relax. She felt like she had not slept at all last night but was just too high strung to rest now. Oh but she wanted too, she really did. Perhaps, she thought, if I just stay here and be quiet they will just leave me alone so I can have a nice nap...

Nope, apparently not. With surprising gentleness and dexterity a pair muscular arms that felt like they had been constructed from steel cables wrapped themselves around her and lifted her up, as she was, like she were no heaver than a small child. Another thing that had never happened to her before, at least not since she _was_ a small child. He gently adjusted her in his arms into a more comfortable and more manageable position but Brianne still kept her eyes closed. For a while Raziel just seemed to stand there, holding her to his chest, which felt just as steely as his arms and his old clan banner did little to cushion it. _'What is he doing?'_

After a few more moments he carried her into the other room but stoped before he reached her bed, tensing and turning to look at the main door were Brianne felt, rather than heard, Kain move. She was expecting one of them to say something but neither of them did. Then a helpful voice inside her head reminded her that Nosgothian vampires did not need to talk out loud to speak to one another. That was probably how Raziel could still communicate. Regardless, something was being said between the two that they did not want her to hear, and whatever it was Raziel did not like it.

After a very long pause Raziel started to move again and placed her gently on the bed, though he was still tense. Surprising her further he preceded to pull the covers up and over her and she felt a gentle touch through her hair. From the other side of the room however, she felt a raising of tension, a build up of power coming from were Kain stood. She heard Raziel bolt upright and the first stirring of power from him made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Still they said nothing, not out loud at any rate.

Eventually they both seemed to calm down and the prickly feeling that had filled the room like just before a lightning bolt struck, dissipated. Brianne, despite her frayed mind and exhaustion, could no more relax and rest through _that_ than she could if she were huddled under a tall tree in the middle of an empty field through a thunder storm. She breathed a muffled sigh of relief.

For a while everything was quiet. Behind the illusionary safety of closed eyes Brianne's disbelief, her shock and her perception of how the world _should be _made war on everything that had happened since she had woken up. _'Come on, think about it, they cant be here. They are a physical impossibility, the things they do break at least half a dozen laws of physics, they can not be real... Did I even wake up this morning? Maybe I am in a coma, or at least unconscious. I was sick yesterday, the dizziness, the utter lack of any real concentration... I have lost it haven't I? Mom always says that I play that game too much. Im hallucinating, they are just figments of my imagination brought on by too much gaming and loneliness..._

"We are going to give you some time alone for a while. We know you are struggling with this, with our presence here." She jumped when she heard Kain's voice by her ear. _Kain. No, noo, you're not real, wake up Brianne, this can not be real..._ He stoped talking, and Brianne, through all the doubt and stress, felt the barest pressure, the slightest touch within her mind. Suddenly a three pronged hand gripped her face and forced her to look to her side. "Open your eyes." His voice commanded. She complied, she didn't think she had much choice, not when he used _that_ tone of voice. He was startlingly close and Brianne's eyes bulged in their sockets. At the same time she felt that same prickly energy build back up again, this time from the end of the bed. "Such, feebleminded thoughts and delusions will get you nowhere Brianne. You will only make it harder for yourself and for us." He paused again, releasing his grip on her face and the prickly feeling emanating from the end of the bed, that seemed to have been holding at a steady level just short of an audio crackle, lessened. "We will return here at dusk. In the meantime I suggest you don't speak of this to anyone, not that they would believe you if you told them." he smirked, and this time there was nothing even remotely pleasant about it, "After all, we are just fictional characters from a game, are we not?" His tone mocked both Brianne and the games in one fell swoop. "Get some rest," he said, voice softer now, "Think about all that has happened and know that we are not here to hurt you." He pulled back and stood up, all predatory grace and power. "Try to relax, you may not get much chance to do so again for a while." Brianne watched as he brought his hands together as though holding an invisible ball, from which a bright white light erupted, engulfing him. When the glare cleared he was gone.

Brianne glanced towards the end of the bed were she knew Raziel was standing. He looked troubled. Brianne didn't say anything, just looked at him as he stared at her. _What is he thinking? _He turned his head slightly as though he had heard something before glancing back at her. _Mabe its Kain telling him to get a move on._ On cue he moved away from the end of her bed and to the window, pushing it open wide enough to climb through. He glanced outside quickly before turning back to Brianne.

"Keep this open for me." He said softly. Brianne nodded mutely in reply. He held her gaze a moment longer than he should have before he climbed quickly and silently out the window leaving her alone in her room.

TBC...

Well that went alright, don't ya think? This is shaping up to be a long, long story, even by my rabid fanfic devouring standards, and that's saying something lol... till next time


	3. Wake up

They Wouldn't Believe You

Disclaimer: I don't own Nosgoth or anything related to it. And so on and so forth...

AN: A very quick update this time, by my standards lol. Been working harder at getting this written now, so it shouldn't be the utter disaster I originally thought it would be update wise. Even so, it takes a bit of time to finish a 10 page plus chapter so please be patient. Huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, I was quite (very) flattered by the response so far, thank you so much and please keep reviewing, even if its just a little one sentence mini reviews to show that you are reading and still enjoy it, or not (though I would like an explanation for the later, a simple "this is rubbish" is kinda pointless by anyone's standards). Thanks again.

Chapter 3: Wake up

Brianne had no idea when, or how, she finally managed to get to sleep, but she did. She knew that she did because clocks did not suddenly jump from 10:15 am to 2:46 pm, unless of course something, somewhere, had decided that dropping two previously nonexistent vampires in her lap was not disruptive enough and had decided to mess with her perception of time as well.

...Well, Kain had told her to think things over, hadn't he? Brianne supposed jokes were a very good first step to... to... whatever.

Blearily she glanced at the clock again. Yep, definitely 2:46... 2:47...2:48... She knew she was avoiding the issue, despite the jokes. But honestly, how were you supposed to go about confronting an issue as gargantuan as that?

2:49. Brianne was not tired enough to sleep anymore but she didn't feel like going downstairs yet. She thought that, given the circumstances, it was quite understandable.

The door to her room was pushed open slowly from the other side and as Brianne watched, Annabel peeped round, looking worried. Apparently avoiding the rest of the world until dusk was not on the menu.

"Oh good you're awake. We've been checking on you every hour or so since about half ten, but you have been out cold every time. What's wrong?"

Brianne cringed. Trust Annabel. Any other person would have said something like 'oh you poor dear, you really must be feeling under the weather to sleep in so late...' Then she could have just nodded her head and looked pathetic and be guaranteed a day in bed. Annabel walked over and sat next to Brianne on the bed as she frantically tried to think of a plausible response.

"I think it must be the same thing as yesterday, I feel so out of it...im just...just... exhausted." She sighed. Well it was true, kind of...

Annabel reached up and Brianne thought she was going to check her temperature but the hand stoped just short of her brow and she felt a strange warmth spread through her. It was as though Annabel was holding a warm cloth to her forehead. Brianne's eyes flickered to Annabel, questioning. The older woman had a strange vacant expression on her face, which quickly blended into a frown.

"Annabel?" The older woman's eyes flickered back to Brianne, her expression was filled with confusion.

"Who... who is he?" her voice was so distant, almost a whisper.

"Wh-"

Annabel's eyes cloud, drifting away from Brianne's face to look over her shoulder. "He surrounds you, flows around... through you... watching..."

"Annabel, what-"

Annabel gasped suddenly confusion mixing with fear. "What... _what_ is he?...What...?" Annabel's hand suddenly snatched away from Brianne's head, her eyes focussing on her intently. "You don't know." She whispered.

"Know what? Annabel, you're freaking me out, please tell me, what is it?." Annabel's hand reached up to Brianne's head again but pulled back almost immediately.

"These things," she said softly, "will make themselves known to you in time. They must."

Brianne was about to demand further explanation but she had barely opened her mouth when the door opened again and another of the guests walked in asking for Annabel and inquiring about Brianne's health. Terri followed close on her heals and ultimately all hint on the previous conversation went out of the window as the daily grind of normal life hijacked her room, banishing the supernatural activities of earlier into nothing more substantial than mist... ironically. Before Brianne had time for so much as a simple raincheck, she was swept up in the storm, whisked away from her room and carried downstairs, barely risking a backward glance, knowing full well they would not be there.

* * *

'_Did I even recover from my dizzy spell the other day?' _Brianne wondered, more than once as she worked on the remainder of her chores that had not already been done for her. She had been feeling a bit light headed since she woke up, again, and while she would have liked to blame it on yesterdays fogginess, in her heart she knew it was down to the whole game characters vs reality issue. She stood just outside the kitchen door unwinding a string of fairy lights from amongst a wildly rampant honeysuckle plant that Brianne suspected was nearly as old as the house. 

From inside Terri called from were she was putting the third dishwasher load on for the day. "Hay, Anne? You mind fetchin' me a box of dishwasher powder from the cellar? We're out."

"Kay." She calls back glancing wearily at the confusing mass of stems, cables, leaves and bulbs in front of her, wondering who might have been responsible for entangling the two together in the first place and why they weren't clearing it up. Sighing and temporarily admitting a defeat, she trudged back into the house and across the kitchen to the cellar door.

"Watch out for the ghosts and boogie monsters Anne."

"Oh please. That was just a silly bedtime story-" Raincheck- monsters, ghosts... right. "Whatever"

Opening the door and flicking on the main light she took the stars calmly and with what she hoped was an air of confidence. _They wouldn't be hiding out in the cellar would they? I mean come on! Its just so stereotypical horror movie and violence, blood and gore aside these guys are anything but! Nah, they wouldn't... _At the bottom of the stairs she came into the main cellar room which doubled up as a laundry with two side rooms, the panty and walk in freezer, and two locked doors which led to other, older parts of the cellar. Everyone said that the basement was practically a mirror of the house above but flattened so it spread out under the grounds surrounding the house, hence why no extensions had ever been built (not that it needed any extra room) everyone was too worried about new building collapsing into old underground rooms. Local legend had it there was even an old dungeon down there but no one knew for sure, the old plans for the house had been lost since the turn of the last century and no one went down there since one of the rooms had a cave-in. That and all the ghost stories. Brianne walked over to the cabinet that held all the detergents not currently in use and pulled out a box of dishwasher powder. Her eyes flickered over to the two locked doors again, wondering what could be behind them, sure it was nothing worse than what she had already come face to face with today.

_No, wait, not locked._ Brianne corrected herself. Looking closer, the locks on both doors had been twisted and buckled just enough to make them ineffective. It was very well done too, subtle, anyone paying less attention than she was at the moment would have overlooked it completely. Putting the box down she walked over to the nearest door and crouched in front of it, examine the remains of the lock.

It was amazing, the metal was completely distorted in places, twisted in ways that Brianne would have thought required the use of a furnace, the wood cracked and split at very specific places were underlying metal work had crumpled. But that was it. The most unusual thing about it was there were no marks, scratches, dents or any other indication as to how it was done. It didn't take much at all for her mind to jump back to earlier that morning.

Perhaps the basement wasn't so ridiculous a hiding spot after all.

"Hay Anne? You got lost down there or something? I need that box now." Brianne jumped when Terri called from upstairs, cursing under her breath. Backing away from the doors she picked up the box and headed back up. She was almost running by the time she reached the top of the stairs.

* * *

It was fast approaching dusk but Brianne was not watching the time, instead she was curled up in an armchair in the livingroom with half of the party guests who had not already left making small talk. Well, they were making small talk, Brianne was half listening, incase she got asked questions, and half staring into the corners of the room and out the windows looking for movement. 

After she had come back up from the cellar another of the guests said they had heard a door slam but Brianne was certain that no one was down there when she was and no one had been down after her. Instantly she thought of the two vampires earlier, and one to of them in particular. After the unidentified noises in the cellar Brianne, along with a couple of the other more attentive guests, had noticed windows and other polished surfaces in the greenhouse outside the kitchen fog up briefly as though some one had blown moist air over them. This phenomenon was always limited to one spot which moved around the greenhouse. This lasted for an hour or so before it vanished entirely and things started happening around the rest of the house, flashes of light, strange noises, poltergeist like activity and so on. It was always subtle, so much so it left you doubting if you actually saw or heard what you think you did. The important bit was that all of the unusual activity matched up perfectly with Kain's powers, even if they were being used in a very subtle manner as apposed to the all guns blazing, kill first talk later attitude that prevailed in the games. From her spot in the corner of the room Brianne's gaze kept flickering to the slats in the bottom of a store room door opposite her; she could have sworn she had heard something move in there before the others had arrived.

Around her a debate raged, with the main players, Annabel, John, May and Samantha, all sitting forward attentively in their seats.

"No way! Have you ever seen a decent wildlife documentary? Wild animals, and even tame ones, are _not _lovely-dovey hippy creatures! They are killers! And they most defiantly kill their own kind."

"They are innocent! They have no reason to kill their own, only humans do that. Yeah they fight, but its all display, the looser gets away."

Brianne shifted to the side a bit to get a better look at the store room when one of the combatants before her shifter in her seat.

"I agree with Sam. Animals can be very vicious." Annabel chimed in.

"There not all bad. Usually when they fight the looser gets away, don't they?"

"Only because they don't have ranged weapons."

"Exactly, they wouldn't think of it, they're not that cruel."

"Oh because lack of brain power and opposable thumbs has nothing to do with it."

"Doesn't matter."

One of the girls closer to the store room, May, shifted slightly and made to get up.

"Do you live in your life in rose tinted specks as far as anything but the human race is concerned! A lion will kill all cubs in a pride when he takes it over, hippos can skewer each other with their teeth when they fight, your common garden robin will kill its opponent in a fight by stabbing it in the back of the head with its beak given half a chance and chimps! Well..!"

"Sheesh! Ok, calm down already. Take a breath before you pass out."

"Not a bad idea Sam. Oh don't look at me like that! Anyway, Im getting a drink, who wants?"

A chorus of "I"s, "Me"s and "Yes please"s when up around the room. May walked up towards the store room.

_CRASH!_

The vase on the table next to Brianne had gone sailing to the floor smashing a good three feet or so away.

"What the!"

While everyone else was distracted by the vase that had wished it could fly, Brianne kept her eyes on the store room. Right on cue a white light faired behind the slats in the door, vanishing as quickly as it came. _Its Kain! I know it is. God, he's really here isn't he!_

"Brianne, did you knock that vase?"

"What? No! I never touched it!"

"It wasn't Brianne, I was watching her." Annabel interrupted the accuser. Her eyes were locked on Brianne.

"Well, who was it? Inanimate objects don't just move of their own accord!"

"Want to bet on that?" Annabel muttered under her breath.

"That one did." May supplied cheerfully, loving all the excitement.

Yet another debate exploded, this time about what exactly had just happened, who saw what, who did what, the laws of physics and poltergeist activity. Brianne felt very much that this was what it felt like in the eye of a storm, this surreal calmness while all around an endless vortex of activity raged, threatening to suck you in.

"Annabel-" the noise around her drowned her out so she tried again. "Annabel!" A couple of the others stoped talking to let her be heard but she still had to rase her voice over the rest. "Im feeling tired so im going have an early night. Ok?"

"Oh, of corse, of corse, you go right ahead."

"Well, er, thanks. 'Night." Brianne tried to be as discreet as possible as she left the room. She had just started to breath easy again after the everts in the livingroom as she reached the stairs when Annabel called back to her.

"Brianne, could you spare me a minute please?" Brianne turned around only to have Annabel take her by the elbow and turn her back up the stairs again. They walked in silence until Annabel pulled her into the nearest empty room and closed the door behind them. "Don't look so frightened girl, im not going to bite your head off." She admonished gently before staring at Brianne in thoughtful silence for much longer than Brianne was comfortable with.

"Annabel-"

"Did you have another dream last night?"

"Wha', I , er yes?" Well _that_ pulled the metaphorical rug from under her feet. Why she did not know.

"What happened?"

"I, er, same as last time more or-"

"I want to know exactly."

"I..."

"Look, just sit down and tell me, start to finish. Don't leave anything out, I will know if you do."

"Annabel..."

"Brianne. Sit, please."

* * *

Brianne had intended to leave out the parts of her dream relating to Nosgoth, she really had. She had started to even, but looking at Annabel she found that she just couldn't, despite all reason and logic telling her otherwise. For awhile after they just sat in silence Brianne nervously fiddling with her fingers. 

"What happened after you woke up?" Annabel said at last. Brianne looked up from the spot on the floor that she had been studding and over at Annabel. Annabel returned the gaze.

"Terri came to see me. Nothing happened." Brianne replied calmly. Inside she was anything but calm.

Annabel frowned. "That's not true. At least, that's not all that happened." Annabel sighed and turned to look at the floor, seeming to find the same spot that Brianne had been looking at. "There is something wrong, or at least, different. There is a new source of energy in the house, two of them actually. Very... outlandish, powerful, dark and yet strangely vulnerable, there's no resistance there, with either of them. Very strange."

"Energy source?" Brianne asked and was disturbed to hear how quiet and shaky she sounded. _Oh great way to sound the innocent_ _Brianne!_

_... 'I suggest you don't speak of this to anyone, not that they would believe you if you told them. After all, we are just fictional characters from a game, are we not?'... _

Kains words haunted her, what if that had not just been a mere suggestion but a command or a threat?

"Hmm. I believe the popular term for it is aura. The energy of life, or more specifically the spirit. There are two new people, spirits, elements, whatever, in my house and I have never felt the likes of them before, ever." Brianne grew increasingly nervous with every word she said or so it seemed.

"And you think this has something to do with me and my dreams? They where _only_ dreams, and Nosgoth is a fictional place in a game, how can I possibly have anything to do with this?" Brianne managed to keep her voice calm, even a bit incredulous or so she hoped.

Alas, Annabel either wasn't paying much attention to her at this point or could see through her now as easily as she did before."When people interact" she continued regardless, "their energy affects one another, it leaves a kind of an imprint on those around them. The longer people spend together or the closer the relationship the grater the imprint it leaves and the longer it lasts. You are surrounded by the energy of the strangers, Brianne, one more than the other." She turned her sharp gaze to her, "You know them."

Brianne sat and stared at Annabel. What could she say? Yes I do know your mysterious visitors, they are a couple of fictional vampires I unwittingly summoned from a game? Hay gess what, your unknown entities don't exist, except now they do? What? Seeing no way out of the situation Brianne just sat in silence looking at the floor, knowing all too well that in doing so she had confessed her gilt as surely as if she had said the words out loud.

"What are they?" Annabel pressed. Brianne said nothing. "Are they dangerous?"

"If they want to be. If it suits them." _If they are hungry. _Brianne sent Annabel a pointed look hoping, praying she would get the hint and leave well enough alone. Kain had said they were not here to hurt her but he hadn't included anyone else in that statement. Annabel turned a cold look at the door across from them, her jaw set.

"Can we get rid of them?" She said softly, almost whispering.

"I don't know." Brianne said honestly. "But I wouldn't want to try it behind their backs." She dreaded to think how they might respond if they found out she had been trying exorcise them, or something, without their consent.

"I see." They lapsed into thoughtful silence again. Brianne was currently living in a very weird kind of calm panic; What if Annabel tried to intervene? "Will you be seeing them soon?" Annabel's question startled Brianne out of her privet thoughts and she had to do a quick mental replay before she answered.

"I- I am. Soon, er now ish really." She muttered, what point was there in lying now?

"Alright. Well, I wont keep you any longer. Thank you for talking to me." She said softly, clearly troubled.

"Yeah, um..." What could she say? Brianne got up and made her way to the door. Suddenly Annabel stood up and caught Brianne's arm, stopping her.

"I want you to promise me that you will be carful Brianne. Follow your heart and trust your instincts, they wont lead you astray."

"I- I promise, Annabel. I'll be careful." Brianne left silently, closing the door behind her, leaving Annabel to her thoughts.

* * *

Brianne had just climbed the last of the stairs and was starting towards her room when Terri caught up with her. 

"Yo! Anne! Wait up! You going to finish that game?" She called as she jogged to catch up with her. Brianne froze. It was now past sunset and the sky was rapidly darkening. She was expecting to see Kain and Raziel back at her room anytime now and there was no way Brianne was going to let Terri see them. To her horror however Terri had already caught up with Brianne and threading her arm through hers, was leading them towards Brianne's room, saying something about making up for lost time after last night.

"You know I don't think im going to bother," Brianne cut in quickly, planting her feet just outside her door, determined that Terri would not even get the chance to look at what may or may not be waiting beyond. "Im knackered, personally I was just hoping to get an early night."

"Ow, come on spoil sport. After last nights build up you expect to wait until next time? Im going in and hour or two, you know I love the endings to those games."

"Yeah, they're very... dramatic." Things looked a little different when you had met the people involved in such 'dramatic' situations face to face.

"Well, that's one word you could use." Terri laughed, oblivious "Tragic is more how I would describe it but dramatic works too." She continued, not picking up on Brianne's sharpy growing discomfort. "And the Soal Reaver 2 ending is definitely one that pulls on the heart strings, bless." _Oh god, please don't let him be listening, please don't let him be listening... _Brianne began to contemplate ever more drastic measures she could take to get rid of Terri. "Honestly, you just feel like giving him a hug or something," Terri continued, relentless. Brianne wished the floor would swallow her up, or better yet swallow Terri up, but she was too horrified to speak._ "_And then Kains reaction, the look on his face and that little wana be 'hug'," Terri laughed. _NONONONONONONO! Don't say it, don't- _"Its no wonder that the slash fict- Yikes Anne are you ok!" Brianne had fallen into a fit of panicked choking and spluttering as soon as Terri mentioned the word 'slash'. It wasn't that Brianne minded slash fanfiction when it was done right, its just that she didn't think that Kain and Raziel would agree. Besides, even if they did, that really was not something you just talked about like that when the people in question could be listening, especially when said people might take offense and rip the still beating heart from the offender, literally. "Whoa there girl just breath ok? Don't choke! You cant choke on _air_ for crying out loud, or did you just swallow your tongue or something?" Brianne thought she could very well have done, thank you very much. She hadn't been paying much attention, she was a little bit more worried about the door behind her, and what lay beyond that.

Finally catching her breath and having checked that her tongue was in its right place, Brianne made another desperate attempt to get Terri to leave. "Look Terri I really need to sleep, I'm absolutely exhausted and im not feeling too healthy either. You have the game at your place, why don't you play it yourself so you can see its end without having to keep the sick from their bed rest eh?" Brianne smiled to take any sting from the jibe, but prayed to any power ready to heed her that Terri wouldn't use her good hummer to try and get what she was after regardless.

Terri smiled in return, "Well when you put it like that it makes me look like the villain! I wasn't the one who decided to have a little late night gaming session, we could have been done in five minutes if you hadn't been so impatient!" Terri laughed, giving her friend a mock glare.

Brianne started to relax, "Well look on the good side, it gives you a little incentive to play your own copy, you keep saying you wanted to get back into it, well this is your excuse!"

"Spoil sport."

"Yeah I know, live with it." Brianne laughed at last, putting her hand on the handle to her door, seeing that Terri had finally relented.

"Alright already. Well if you are calling it a night now I guess I'll see you back at collage next week then."

"Yeah, guess so. Night, see you then."

Terri laughed, "My, you're eager to be rid of me!" she waved off any protests, laughing along with her friend, "not that I don't have places to be," she grinned wolfishly "and people to see." Both girls laughed, and with a final round of 'good night's' Brianne was finally able to slip through the door to her room, locking it behind her as she near collapsed against it.

* * *

Brianne spent a few minuets just stood there, her head pressed against the door, not thinking, just enjoying the quite while it lasted. Behind her she heard the gentle swish of the bathroom door opening. "Wish we could find you a better hiding place than that." She mumbled, still with her head pressed against the door. 

"Well, as needs must..." Kain muttered behind her, seeming to share her wish.

Turning around Brianne leaned back against the door before looking up as Raziel walked over to the window again, taking up a place similar to that morning. Kain seemed to make a point of looking perfectly comfortable leaning against the door frame to the bathroom.

"Well," muttered Brianne, looking back down at her feet, "what now?"

"You continue with your life as normal." Kain said as if it was the most simple and obvious thing in the world.

"W-what?" Brianne stuttered, "H-how? How can I go on as normal with..." she paused, not certain quite how to say what she was thinking without insulting them, however slight the insult may be.

Kain waved off her hesitation "We need to try to remain undetected in this world, at least until we have a better idea of the economic and social mechanisms here, how far we can push it to our advantage-"

"Not far." She muttered, not sure if Kain would heard her.

Apparently he did, his gaze turning critical "Perhaps. That is what we need to find out. If you draw attention to yourself, you may draw attention to us."

"Why do you need me? Cant you figure out what you need to know, whatever that may be, without me..." Brianne trailed off, when even Raziel turned back to look at her "Sorry, I brought you here... responsibility, yeah..." She mumbled, guiltily.

"You know this world Brianne," Kain continued levelly "you are comfortable here and can therefor be of some help to us."

_Oh of corse, im useful to them..._ She thought, somewhat bitterly. Remembering who she was dealing with didn't help much either."Help with what?" She said, sounding a little more petulant than she had wanted.

"Whatever necessary."

The silence that fallowed was most unpleasant for Brianne, and she was absolutely certain they were doing this deliberately. She was still a little uncomfortable about the what Terri had said earlier, Brianne couldn't help but think that they had properly heard the whole disaster of a conversation. She sent a discreet glance at Raziel, he was looking out the window again, in fact he had barely moved an inch since she had come into the room and they had emerged from their 'hiding place'. She was just trying to think of a way to brake the silence and talk to him when he saved her the trouble, confirming her fears.

"You said that Terri had her own copy of the games. It was those," He pointed to the bathroom, indicating the Legacy of Kain games she had hidden under the sink. "That you were referring to?" At Brianne's slight nod, he continued "They are identical?"

"Yes, well they were, hers would have the pictures of you two that I mentioned on the cover and..." She stopped. What if they didn't, what if it wasn't just her games that were affected?

She froze, her eyes growing wide and the blood drained from her face, for a second she almost felt like her heart had stoped beating.

What if they were all affected?

Her imagination went into overdrive as it began to visualise the consequences of this, each image offered up worse than the last.

_Word of this strange event would spread like wild fire, the web would be buzzing. Skeptics would say it's a hoax, a complex, global hoax, but a hoax non the less. But with something like this, something this big, who would believe them? It would make the news, the whole world would hear of this unprecedented event. Mystics, psychics and every other supernaturally inclined would investigate the case of the missing game characters. The posting boards and chat rooms would be ablaze with fans and non fans of the game alike. And eventually, probably sooner rather than later, someone would ask "But where have they gone?" _

_And then the hunt would begin. And with that kind of publicity it will be wellnigh impossible to hide two larger than life, _predatory_, characters from another world. Someone would see them, someone would talk and word would spread. Then the people would come. The fans, the curious, the crazies, the people with A Mission, the police, the government... There would be no end, it would be like announcing that aliens had landed. And everyone knows what the governments do to the aliens in the movies. Of corse they would try to take them in if they knew. Firstly, a bloodthirsty vampire lord and a soal stealing wraith would definitely count as a threat to society. Second they weren't exactly pleasing on the eye, the mere sight of them could easily be enough to induce panic in most people, so even if they curbed their more violent tendances they would still be a threat and thus couldn't be allowed to walk around freely. Third, they have super powers! They can jump the height of most bungalows, have telekinetic abilities, can regenerate (just apply blood/spirit energy where necessary), enormous strength, and the list goes on and on... oh boy, those wiz kids in the science labs would just love to get their hands on them. Brianne shuddered inwardly, images flashing through her mind of twisted, mutated clones and hybrids bottled up in tanks and stuck full of more wires and tubes than the back of a tv, video, DVD and games consol combo with a lamp or two thrown on the side. _

_And, locked away in the depths of a maximum security complex, surrounded with the latest technology and the most powerful that the supernatural world has to offer, there would be two vaults. These vaults would put the grandest, most impervious bank volt to shame, with both physical and spiritual measures designed not to keep thing out but to keep things in. There would be twenty-four hour surveillance every day of the year. And the people behind the cameras would watch. They would watch the tests, the experiments, the sampling, the endless prodding and probing. Oh of corse the 'subjects' would try to escape, and they would probably succeed, at first. But with each escape attempt, failed or otherwise, their captors would get better at containing them, one way or another. And the people behind the cameras would watch as they are striped of their pride, their dignity, their identity and their fragile hope. They would watch as the spark behind their eyes, the fire of their souls would slowly, but surely, go out..._

Brianne let out a choked cry as the possible implications of this revelation sank in. Images of Raziel and Kain bound and confined like that, their faces, their eyes, dead, while faceless white coted individuals worked around and on them, burned in her mind.

No one deserved a fate like that. No one.

TBC

AN- Oooh, that is a nasty place to end, isn't it? .' I really must lay off the Sci/fi for a while hmm?

Originally this would have been a bit longer than it is now believe it or not, but there was so much heavy duty stuff in such a relatively small space (considering how big this story is turning out to be) that it was becoming overbearing. So I chopped the entire thing into bits and moved a whole chunk of it over to chapter 4 and beyond. Thing will lighten up a little later, in places, when its needed... and sometimes just for the hell of it. Till next time...

AN the 2nd: This is the first fanfiction that I have ever published, I had started to write another LOK story before this but that got put on hold as I got more focussed on this one. My very first fanfiction however was a handwritten monstrosity that I wrote years ago (9 ish years or so, I think) then forgot about. When I dug it up again about 2 years ago I was horrified by, well, just about everything about it; spelling, gramma, characterisation, story... think of the very worst mary-sue story you have ever read, multiply that by 5 and you still wont come close to the appalling piece of rubbish that, after about 10 minutes of stunned embarrassment on my part, was promptly torn, shredded, stomped on and otherwise wrecked beyond all recognition, then binned (I would have burned it but fire hazzard and what not...). The only good thing that came of that little insult to literature was that it opened my eyes to a nasty tendency on my part to let my stories spiral out of all control and sense, something I have fought to rectify ever since and am still trying to get my head round properly. Point I'm trying to make is that because this is only my second decent attempt at writing any story outside of school English projects (the other being the first LOK story I have on hold), I am still working on my writing style/technique, how to keep characters in character, keeping a story from becoming ridiculous and so on, so it is possible, even probable that this story might be quite a different animal towards the end then what it is now and hopefully this metamorphoses, if it happens, will be for the good. If anyone has any little pearls of wisdom, any hints and tips that they think are worth sharing then by all means please send them my way, it would be greatly appreciated.


	4. Back down to Earth

They wouldn't believe you

Disclamer: I don't own it, I would like to but I don't, such is life. ;)

... /pokes hit counter/ Come on people! I know you are reading this... -/pokes hit counter again/- o.o -/hit counter resets itself/- 0.o eh? -/glares at hit counter/- Evil thing... '-.- ... Honestly, it did go mental on me, anyone else had that? Think it happened around the time I uploaded one of the previous chapters, is that normal?

**Warning, please read**: It gets a little gruesome towards the end of this chapter. There is some description though it is short. I still don't think this deserves an M rating yet but if you disagree let me know and I will consider increasing the rating early. It may be approaching borderline but since rating/content has never realy bothered me, my perception of what should be 'for mature readers only' may be a little out of sync with the majority, I don't know, im not the majority, I'm me. Still a chance of finding the odd swear word or two, no idea how many or how few, really cant be bothered with counting them.

Chapter 4: Back Down to Earth

The dark images flashed through her mind. Things she wouldn't have considered plausible before, now didn't seem so unlikely. If the impossible could be standing in front of her, clear as day, than what's to say the rest of it couldn't happen? She could see them in her minds eye, bound and helpless, drugged and stuck full of wires, monitoring them. She could see the labs, the test tubes containing a blood sample here, a tissue sample there, the different charts showing chemical composition and reaction results. She could see the physical tests, watched as they cut again and again. The wouldn't use anaesthetic, they needed to see how they would respond naturally, didn't know how they would respond to pain killers. In her mind she could hear them scream.

"Brianne?" She blinked up at Raziel, the images in her head retreating slowly, too slowly, into the shadowy places in her mind. Raziel was crouched next to her, his hand resting gently on her shoulder, he looked worried. Unwittingly she brought her hand up to rest over the his. Distantly, she could feel tears running down her cheeks. A small voice in the back of her mind mocked her, _'Again? You are really going to have to do something about this girl, cos this is getting ridiculous.'_ She blinked furiously, trying to clear her eyes.

"What is it?" Kain said from next to the door. He sounded almost as concerned as Raziel did but Brianne couldn't bring herself to tear her eyes off the Lieutenant.

"Brianne, snap out of it. Talk to us. Do you think all the games have changed, is that what this is about?" Raziel prompted. That did it. Brianne made a strangled cry in her throat and serged to her feet, wobbled a bit, then started pacing the room, trying to think. First thing that popped into her head was that she needed a drink so she went into the bathroom and got a cup water. And another one. She returned to the bedroom carrying a third with her and began pacing next to the window in one half of the room while Kain and Raziel watched from the other half by the door. She muttered under her breath as she paced, taking sips from her drink regularly. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't see when she spilled small amounts, Kain did and took a subtle step back to his original spot right in front of the door. Brianne didn't notice but Raziel did and sent him a look that could have been a smirk. Kain glared right back at him.

"Ah!" Kain and Raziel both snapped to attention as Brianne stoped her pacing and nearly leaped at one of her bags, fumbling with the fastenings and rummaging around inside it until she pulled out her mobile phone. She sat down on her bed, the phone trembling in her hands as she took some deep breaths to try to calm herself. Kain and Raziel watched her intently.

Finally she lifted the phone, pressed some of the buttons and brought it up to her ear.

"Come on... come on Kai, please, please pick up... come on... Yes! Ah, hi Kai. Its me Anne. Look I know its late and all with work and that but could you do me a favour? I left my Soul Reaver 2 manual at a friends house and need the notes from the back. Could you read yours out for me?... Yeah...Yeah that's it, thanks." Brianne muffled a deep sigh and glanced at Kain and Raziel. She shuffled in her seat, nerves and mounting tension made the seconds drag by. Finally a voice sounded on the other end of the phone and Brianne perked up. "Yes. Did you get it? Excellent. Thanks. Uh hm..." Brianne looked at Kain and Raziel, allowing a small smile to grace her face as she began to relax. "Yep... right, got that. Thanks. Hay, business aside haven't seen you in a while. You doing ok?... yeah I'm fine thanks, a little stressed but nothing serious." She laughed. "Yeah cool... Really?...What?... He never!... Ha! That'll teach 'im!... Ah, same old," her eyes fixed on Kain and Raziel, the thrill of the little subterfuge shining clear in her eyes. "Me, mom, collage and the same old gang. Yeah kinda pathetic..." She laughed again then sighed. "Thanks a bunch Kai. Look I'd love to chat some more but I've got things to do. Talk to you again... See ya." She brought the phone down and set it on the bed beside her before promptly falling back on to the bed herself, stress forcing a rather un dignified giggle from her. "His games aren't affected, I would have known if they were. Honestly, Kai is one of the biggest gossips I know, no way would he be able to keep something like that quite."

Brianne felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders, or at least that someone had given her some shoulder pads to make the burden a little easer to bear. The haunting images still rattled around her brain, and she knew things could still go badly if they were caught. The trick therefor, was don't get caught. Such a pity that there was a world of difference between theory and practice.

"That's good news. Hopefully this means that all the copies are unaffected, not that merely some of them are." Kain said as he looked through he open door to the bathroom cupboard where Brianne's games were hidden.

"Well if others are affected we will just have to deal with that if we ever have to face it." Brianne mumbled still flopped down on the bed, looking up at the roof.

"I don't think it will be a matter of if but when, should that be the case." He countered darkly.

"Hmm, I guess..." Brianne just couldn't muster the energy to be overly worried any more, with Kai's unwitting reassurance she just felt like she was ready to call it quits for the day now that particular concern was taken care of. She had been on tender hooks all day, ever since she had first beheld the state of her transformed games and enough was enough, at least for tonight. Pulling herself back up she looked at her visitors. Raziel had taken up his new favoured spot by the window but was watching her instead of looking outside. Kain was still next to the door, his eyes slowly wondering round the room but Brianne doubted that he was paying much attention to what was going on outside his own head. "You had fun today?" She asked him.

His eyes flickered to her, "Meaning?"

"Well, the whole house has been buzzing with talk of poltergeist activity, flashes of white light, moving mist... You honestly expect me to believe that had nothing to do with you?"

Kain sighed, "Subtlety is an art, one you seemed surprised I have some skill in." Brianne had the grace to blush. "I chose to put my time today to some use instead of sitting around, hiding in a damp cellar." He almost growled his distaste, "And as for me having fun? Well if ducking around corners and hiding in storerooms is fun then yes, I had wonderful time." His tone of voice said quite clearly that he had not. _Of course, _thought Brianne sarcastically, _all he has managed to smash up today has been a couple of pots and a table, hardly worth writing home about._ She didn't dare say that out loud though.

"Can't you just go?" She said, completely unexcepted and unrehearsed. This earned her some rather surprised looks from her guests. Well Kain looked surprised and a little affronted, Raziel almost seemed shocked, but it was harder to tell with him. "What I mean," She hastily tried to amend, "is that I'm tired, I have been on edge all day, cant I just have tonight to myself? Surely you have found a place where you can bunk down for the night, I just- I just think I need a little more time..." As she spoke she became increasingly more uncomfortable as she began to think how badly they could take this, how she might sound to them, until by the time she trailed off at the end she was looking nervously at the floor, her hands fidgeting in her lap.

She was right to be nervous, Kain had gone from affronted to borderline outrage, "You think-" He cut off suddenly, but it still made Brianne flinch. With her frightened gaze fixed on the floor she didn't see how his head snapped up to turn his rather fierce gaze on Raziel. She could guess what had happened though and was determined to stay out of it and not put her foot in her mouth again tonight. Just out of the corner of her eye she watched Kain stride away from the door and over towards the window. After an uncomfortable and rather tense stretch of time for Brianne she heard a muttered "Fine." and a flash of white light, the signature sign of Kain's teleport ability. That left only Raziel still in the room with her and she was much more comfortable dealing with him than Kain and although something about that still seemed a little odd, she wasn't going to knock it.

"Guess I over stepped my mark a bit there, huh?" She mumbled to fill in sudden silence.

Raziel walked over from where had been by the window and into her field of view, "Kain has barely the patience to deal with vampire fledglings, let alone a- young human."

"And you do?"

"I have my moments." She looked up at him properly then, he could almost have been smiling.

She couldn't quite summon up the energy to smile back, didn't know if it would be appropriate. "Sorry." She said turning back to look at the floor.

"It is a lot to ask, we both see that. Kain just cant stand all this siting around right now, neither can I to be honest but-" He cut off with a sigh and a slight shake of his head.

"But? But what?"

"Nothing, it doesn't matter." He walked over to the wall and turning back to face her asked "What was going on last night? It looked like there was some kind of celebration and I presume a costume party. What was the occasion?"

"Oh, um, Halloween." She said, then doubting they had Halloween in Nosgoth decided to explain. "It's a holiday where people dress up, usually as… um, well, what we would consider monsters and such. Most people round here just use it as a good excuse for a party without paying any attention to any of the concepts behind it. Originally, it was this old pagan festival of the dead when they used to remember their ancestors. At about midnight, the boundary between worlds is supposed to be thin and people called their deceased loved ones back to feast with them at the banquet they held on that night, to be remembered-"

Brianne cut off as Raziel just started to laugh, softly at first then louder. Brianne was quite taken aback, partly because it was so unexpected but also because she had never heard him laugh before (and she didn't count his manic tern in Defiance when he fought Kain). It was not unpleasant but Brianne thought it sounded slightly strained. She just watched him, not quite knowing what to make of it all as he leaned against the wall and attempted to gain control of the fits of laughter that were overtaking him. Brianne suddenly wondered weather everything that had happened to him recently hadn't scarred his mind as severely as it had scarred his body.

"What's so funny?" She asked somewhat bemused, and a little concerned.

He had his head turned up towards the ceiling and brianne thought she herd him mutter something about irony but she couldn't make it out, though trying not to stare at the underside of his head as he looked up was not helping. He looked back down at her, his laughter fading and she blinked in wonder.

His eyes... they were… it was like someone had taken all the stars in the night sky and mixed them with glowing, crystalline water that flowed moved with a life of its own. Gone was the uniformed, featureless glow. Now they shimmered and glittered and glistened. Yet just behind the lights and weaving among them slightly, were shadows. Brianne was utterly entranced and nearly protested when he closed his eyes and shook his head, apologising to her and asking her to continue. When he opened his eyes again it was just in time to watch the last of the glitter fade back to the normal glow.She couldn't think properly, the only thing her mind wanted to focus on was the memory of his eyes, they were hypnotic.

"Brianne?" He said when she stayed silent for too long.

"Oh, er sorry, where was I?" She said, breathlessly.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yes, thank you."

He wasn't convinced, "I don't believe you." obviously. To Brianne he sounded hesitant, even wary, as though he thought he was causing her discomfort. He was right, but not for the reasons he suspected.

"Oh its not you-"

"You're sill lying."

"Well Ok, it is you." She confessed but quickly added. "But not in a bad way. Shock can be a wonderful thing you know." She joked, giggling slightly despite herself. Raziel didn't take it as well however so she continued, hurriedly. "It was when you were laughing just then. You looked back towards me and your eyes were different."

"Different? How?" He sounded intrigued and perhaps a little concerned. He pushed off the wall and walked over to sit at a comfortable distance from her on the bed, she swivelled to face him.

"Well," She began, almost shyly, "They were… Sparkly."

"Sparkly?" He repeated slowly.

"Well, yeah." She said, than realised how silly, and possibly offensive, it must sound to him. "But it was more than that! It was like liquid and stars and… and…" she paused unsure. She remembered the fire she saw in them, the wonder she felt like when she looked at images far off galaxies and nebula. She couldn't help herself, she reached forward, breaching the gap between them touched the side of his face in what was almost a caress. "It was... beautiful."

So absorbed in her memories, in his eyes, she didn't notice the way he leaned into her touch, the expression on his face. She did see the change in his eyes however, like clouds lifting from the night sky and no trace of shadows this time. It was so easy to loose herself to it, to forget the world around her and become completely absorbed in his eyes. The more she looked the more she saw, the more she felt...gradually images began to appear in her minds eye, emotions, thoughts, ideas... memories...

_/...before I had chance register how it happened, pain exploded through my chest when I had just blocked a high blow from his morningstar. I knocked him clear away from me with a side kick and risked a glance down to the horrid sight of his boot knife buried up to the hilt in my chest, just below my heart.../ _

_/..."That's enough from you Turel." Even the barest hint of warning in Kain's voice was enough to silence him immediately. "Answer me this Raziel," he said then, the dangerous edge to his voice gone, "If it had not been for fear of humiliation, would you have fought so hard? Would you, could you, have won that fight?" His voice was expectant and demanded an answer.../_

_/...Dumah had regained his feet and his wits and charged me with his blunted training sword. I dogged the blow easily and clipped his backside with the flat of my blade as I went past him. The training swords may have been blunted but combined with vampiric strength were still deadly and as such you were meant to try and avoid any potentially dangerous hits, only minor and glancing blows were allowed, in theory. Besides, I imagined that Dumah would like to be able to sit down at some point after this.../_

_/...Racing down the stone street, the sound of my footsteps echoed around and around amplifying it to dangerous levels, I was certain someone would hear._ _Damn that woman! A Seer she may be but that was ridiculous, even a Seer would be hard pressed to survive in the heart of the enemies base with no way of disguising herself. Despite myself I couldn't help but think that Kain would be furious if he heard that she had come to harm and she was my damn fledgling!.../_

_/...distracted as I was, I could not help but notice the curious absence of guards and general Sarafan militia you would usually expect to patrol the corridors. At least, I did not encounter any _living_ guards. Some of the bodies, I noticed absently, were of my own doing, but others… it seemed that the Circle were not the only ones to suffer Vorador's wrath for the death of his sire… either that or Kain had decided to indulge himself. _

_Finally, after many a wrong turn and an infuriating number of dead ends and locked doors, I reached the balcony that had on an earlier occasion seen my escape from the stronghold; it would serve me just as well now.../_

Raziel jerked back sharply and suddenly, pulling away from her and breaking the link between them. Brianne reeled from the range and intensity of thoughts and images that coursed through her head and nearly fell back when Raziel pulled away. "What the...what the hell was that! That was like... that was..." She looked at Raziel in confusion, amazement and growing horror. He was backed up next to the dresser, bracing himself against the wall looking a little stunned but nothing worse as far as Brianne could tell. "Oh god, Raziel, I'm so sorry, I didn't...Raziel."

"Just leave it Brianne," Raziel said sharply, recovering.

"I didn't-"

"Enough!" He snapped, pushing away from the wall and over towards the window, if somewhat unsteadily. Brianne didn't know what to do or what to say, her head was still swimming with what had just happened and that was doing nothing for her concentration, not to mention she was feeling absolutely terrible about what had just happened. Reaching the window, Raziel leaned on the sill and just when she though he would leave he said, effectively cutting off another apology from Brianne, "I know you didn't mean for that to happen and I know you are sorry."

"Raziel, I-"

"I know. Get some rest."

"I'm sorry."

"Good night Brianne." And then with nimble grace he leapt out of the window. Brianne didn't even hear him land.

Brianne stared at the spot where he had been, speechless, confused, upset and still a little dazed. The edge of the curtain ruffled slightly with the breeze from the open window, emphasizing the emptiness of the room and providing a contrast to the strange buzzing like sensation going round her head. Not bothering to cover the slight, silent sobs that overcame her briefly as she hugged her legs to her chest, a part of her wondered at which point she had gotten so emotionally involved in all this mess.

* * *

A couple of hours had passed and it was fully dark outside now. Brianne was curled up under the sheets and blankets on the bed. Leaving the window wide open even with the curtain closed and the heating on equalled one cold room at this time of year. When she had decided to keep warm by going to bed she opted to do it properly, going through all the usual night time rituals of brushing her teeth and getting changed for sleep and such. Consequently she was now lying on her back in almost complete darkness looking up at the black void above her where the ceiling was, not quite ready to go to sleep just yet. 

Finally she had calmed down enough to really think about everything that had happened to her since the previous night and think she did. Obsessively. Over and over and over.

The first thing that stuck in her mind was the way Kains and Raziels attitude towards her contrasted quite drastically with what one might expect of them. If Brianne were to imagine a scenario like the one she was now in and depicted Kain and Raziel in a manner drawn purely from what she had seen in the games, well, even after just one day she would have imagined things to be a lot more bloody and a hell of a lot less civile, by current standards. As for the heroine in that picture, well, Brianne doubted she would be in such good care, certainly not from the anti-heros in question.

And speaking of anti-heros, what the hell was going on with Raziel? He was being, well, nice. At least Kain still had some of the menace she associated with him, Raziel seemed to have done a complete 180 degree temperament shift. He had been caring, considerate, thoughtful... ok, so it didn't add up. Frankly, it was about as out of place as a blue whale on a mountain top from where she was sitting, but for her sake she hoped it didn't change because when it came down to it, either one of them could kill her without really trying. Brianne shuddered at that thought but refused to delude herself that it couldn't happen, if she did she could get over confident and despite her current contemplative mood she didn't want to dwell on where that might lead.

Thinking back again through the events of the day another thing struck her as very unusual and she cursed herself for not noticing it earlier. _So ladies and gentlemen, upon entering a new world filled with things completely alien to you, what would the typical reaction be?... Panic? Yeah, probably. Questions? Certainly...Random violence? Well as far as these world hoppers are concerned, that could be a possibility... Calm acceptance with not even your most simple questions regarding where you are, what the hell is going on and so forth? Nah don't be silly! _Brianne gave a very un lady like snort of laughter before growing serious again. It was true. The only things they had asked her about was when Raziel wanted to know about the games and Halloween, other than that, nothing, nada, not even a hint of any real curiosity about their new circumstance. Had they gotten up to something while she was asleep to answer those questions for her? Did they know something they weren't telling?

In answer to that last question Brianne would have to say that yes, there was a world of things they were keeping hidden from her. How many times had she gotten the impression that there was an immeasurable amount of meaning passing between them even wile she was in the same room as them? From subtle glances to what she was certain were full blown arguments. _'Why are you here?' _She had asked them, now she was beginning to think they knew far more then they were letting on and certainly more than she did. One thing that all this conspiracy and subterfuge did help her with though, was to help her identify from which point in their time line they had come from. At first she had wondered if they had come from the time at the end of the Soul Reaver 2 game since that was what she had been playing when this had all started but seeing them interact, their attitude towards each other, Raziels attitude towards Kain in particular, made Brianne think that they had come from the very end of Defiance. Reason being that before then Raziel had been so driven in his desire for revenge and for answers, that the relative peace with which the now seemed to coexist would have been impossible. The only problem with this theory was that the point at which the rift between them was healed was when Raziel was being pulled into the Reaver. Yet here he stood, most definitely not in sword form. And there was no physical Reaver either. Hmm.

Brianne rolled over onto her side and caught a glimpse of the clock next to her bed, 10:32, not late at all really considering that usually she would go to bed an hour later. Even so she was beginning to think in circles and at the moment that could lead to jumping to all sorts of conclusions, which could be dangerous considering who was involved. Finally giving in she closed her eyes and made herself comfortable, willing her mind to calm down then letting it drift of its own accord and simply observing the images it presented, letting it lead her to her dreams and thus to sleep.

* * *

_She was dreaming again, it was vague, maybe a battle, distant screams and shouts rattling round her head getting louder and louder._

Brianne yelped as she bolted upright, the screams and shouting in the house around her startled her from her sleep. In dazed confusion she looked around her in the pitch darkness of her room, the panicked sounds of the rest of the house muffled by the walls so she could not make out exactly what was going on. She turned to look at the clock, 00:56; she had only been asleep for a couple of hours.

Dragging herself out of bed she immediately began to shiver with cold, an army of goose bumps flaring angrily over her skin in the cold room. Not bothering with the light she quickly rummaged through the various items of clothing she had brought with her and pulled out a sweater, a pair of tracksuit bottoms and her trainers and pulled them over what she was wearing, nearly getting tangled in the process.

Stumbling to the door, she yanked it open and was momentarily blinded by the hall light, the distressed sounds of the rest of the house suddenly clearer. Stepping out into the corridor she was just in time to collide with one of the other girls who was running down the hall, May. She was frantic, screaming when they collided, knocking both of them down.

"Brianne! Oh Brianne! Its-its," she was sobbing uncontrollably, "I cant- he- he- he's- no, oh no." She collapsed into incomprehensible babble on the floor, as Brianne felt stomach churning horror worming its way through her.

Scrambling forwards she grabbed May by her shoulders, pulling her up so she could see her face, "May! May, what happened? What is it?" Receiving only distraught sobs in reply Brianne resorted to shaking the girl in frustration and her own rising fear. "Damn it, May! Snap out of it! What's going on?"

At last some of this seemed to reach May and she choked out something about the basement. Brianne didn't wait to hear more. She tore down the corridor like her life depended on it, her heart racing a mile a minute. Downstairs people were running around in panic, screaming, crying.

Taking the stairs two at a time, something she had rarely done going down, her inexperience showing when she stumbled on the last few steps slipping the rest of the way down. Her hand caught the banister at the last moment, stopping her from falling flat on her face but wenching her arm as she jerked to a stop. Pulling herself shakily to her feet, another of the house guests darted past her racing up the stairs.

Somewhere close someone was calling for calm, few people seemed to be listening. She jogged down towards the kitchen, past rooms where remaining guests talked to each other in frightened whispers or tried to comfort hysterical friends. A huge burly man in his mid 30s that Brianne only knew as Dan barred the way to the kitchen, his face pale. When Brianne tried to squeeze past him a beefy hand on her shoulder was all it took to halt her in her tracks. He didn't say anything, was barely paying any attention to her at all in fact, he was too worried about what was going on in the kitchen and the rest of the house.

A huge crash sounding somewhere in one of the rooms behind Brianne caught his attention, and a cry for help was all it took for him to abandon his post for the few seconds it took to walk over to the door in question to see what was wrong. A few seconds were all that was needed for Brianne to slip through into the kitchen.

Annabel was there, so was Terri and another girl Brianne had only seen a couple of times before. The door to the basement was wide open. Terri and Annabel were sat in the corner away from the Basement, Terri was holding on to Annabel as though her life depended on it, sobbing into her shoulder, oblivious. Annabel looked up at Brianne sharply, looking drained and grim. The other girl, looking equally as upset was on the phone, it sounded like she was calling the police. Not waiting for any of them to talk Brianne barrelled past them and through the door to the cellar.

Stumbling down the stairs, still shaken from her earlier slip she came to the first room of the basement. Nothing, there was nothing out of place. Except...except one of the formally locked doors was wide open, the broken lock no longer holding it shut. Creeping forward, she looked through the door but the corridor beyond took a sharp 90 degree turn, stopping her from looking ahead. There were no electric lights so backtracking she reached for a torch kept down there incase there was a power cut. Advancing once more she continued round the bend in the corridor thinking she would never hear anything ever agin, her heart was thundering so loud.

Everything was dusty and grimy and definitely hadn't been used in a long time... not by humans at any rate. The light from the torch fell upon another set of stairs. Easing her way down, she was very conscious of the fact that the stairs were steep and there was no banister if she fell. Brianne had to stop when the stairs went round another bend, her hand on the wall to steady herself. Using the light from the touch she peered down the rest of the stairs; Another door, also open. _One foot in front of the other Brianne, one foot in front of the other..._ Everything down here was made of stone, aside from the doors, probably because stone didn't rot in damp. The air was clammy and musty with age, in places the damp had left trails on the stone walls and roof, the small beginnings of stalactites and stalagmites starting to show.

There were doors on two of the other walls, one of them open, one of them shut. Brianne was making her way to the open door but focussed as she was on the way ahead she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and stumbled, catching her foot on something on the floor. Limbs flailing wildly she caught herself on the wall, jarring her already tender arm. Spinning round to look at the floor, the light of the touch shaking, she saw...nothing. Or what looked like nothing. Edging closer, her attention was focussed on a deep groove in the ground, quite out of place with the rest of the floor. No, not one groove but three, side by side. And fresh too, no dust, no sign of the wear cased by damp. Holding her hand over it she realised it matched perfectly with... _Oh what have they been up to? _They had only been here twenty four hours or so!

Backing away from the marks on the floor she turned back to the other open door. It loomed ahead of her like a giant gaping mouth, the darting light of the torch illuminating the budding stalactites just beyond the door and the water worn tracks on the stone and rotting wood made it seem far too organic. The door was splintered and cracked, almost hanging off its hinges were they had been forced to move after having been rusted solid for so long. Crossing the threshold she took stock of her surroundings. She had left the yellowed light of the small part of the basement still in use far behind, and yet..._is it just me or is it getting darker down here?_ The shadows looked deeper, the light of the torch seemed faded and the corridor leading away from this room was a velvety black hole of nothing. Her eyes straining with every step further into the room she almost missed the prone form slumped bonelessly against the wall.

A quick double take had the shaky beam of light fixed on a boy, young man even, sprawled against the wall, twisted to the side with his feet splayed out in front of him, his back to Brianne and his hands in his lap out of sight. Her mouth and throat were dry, trying to swallow nothing while her grip on the touch became slick with sweat beneath her white knuckled grip. Everything about this was wrong. Approaching warily, hesitantly, she peered at the figure on the floor.

_/...Terri was inside and so was a local lad, Frederic, who helped to clean the house on weekends. Terri only afforded them a momentary greeting before returning her attention and overly exaggerated charms on the helpless boy she had verbally pinned down like a butterfly.../ _

"Frederic! Frederic! Are you alright?" Reaching forward Brianne touched his shoulder, trying to ignore the alarm bells racing around her head like police sirens in a drag race; She didn't _want _to listen, to believe. _This is wrong, this is so wrong! Oh please, please don't..._ Frederic didn't respond to her touch at allthere wasno indication that he even knew she was there. She was shaking his shoulder now, trying desperately to find some sign that he was alright... But she knew. She already knew when he began to fall back, sliding slowly to the ground, she had already seen how still he was, the drab grey pallor to what little skin she could see peeking out beneath his hair.

There was no thud, however soft, or any other nosie to signal the moment when he finally touched the ground. No, nothing so dramatic, just the slow cessation of all sound as he gently came to rest, leaving his front open and exposed to her view.

Brianne had never seen much in the way of gore in her life, she had never had an accident that required her to have stiches, neither had she seen anyone else in that state. She wasn't partial to particularly gruesome horror movies, preferring storyline over fake blood, nor was she a fan of hospital drama or anything else that might have helped her face the sight spread out before her. The was almost no blood at all really, barely half a cup full stained the white of his top, fanning down his chest like some kind of perverted bib. His head was just a handful of inches from her feet and looking down she had a clear view of him, of his face, utterly blank and expressionless , of his throat, torn open and sucked dry, leaving muscle and sinew and vessels and bone open to the air. If she were to tilt her head just so, she would have been able to look straight down his windpipe.

Brianne didn't realise she had been screaming until she was gasping for air.

Staggering back she collided bodily with the door frame, some of the old rotten wood splintering under her weight. Staring at the top of Frederic's head, the brunet locks tussled as though he had just gotten out of bed, Brianne could hear someone calling her name and the sound of footsteps coming closer. She couldn't have cared less. _This...this is my fault! I brought them here, I'm responsible... I did this! He... they...They k-killed him! Oh god they killed him! _

The footsteps had caught up with herand someone was blocking her view of Frederic, not that it mattered, the image was burned into her mind already. The person- _Its Dan again- _was pulling her to her feet and she was about as cooperative as a puppet with its stings cut.

_What now? What will they do? What will _we_ do?_

As Dan led her out of the room and back out of basement and she caught a glimpse of Frederic's body and his ruined neck, a thought occurred to her that had been lurking at the edge of her mind since she had first realised something was wrong earlier that day. She had been thinking it all along but it hadn't really sunk in, a part of her hadn't quite believed it.

_This isn't a game. This is real.

* * *

_

TBC

* * *

AN: Now THIS is where the story really starts to get going. Getting an idea of the scale of this thing yet? ;) Huge I know, certanly bigger than I had intened but thats ok because I have some novel size originalstories that I want to write when I have my writing style pinned down better. Some of the 'memory' sequence was taken from my first LOK fanfiction, Starlight, that got put on hold after I got more involved in this one and another bit was from part of a 'missing scene' that I started to write set between Soul Reaver 2 and Defiance. Rather than making it all up a simple copy and paste is so much quicker don't ya think? Till next time... :P 


	5. Into the dark

They wouldn't Believe You

Disclaimer: I did it! I have the deeds! I have the copyright! Its mine! All mine! MUHAHAHAHA! ...er.../sees The Hoard Of Angry Evil Lawyers Of Deathtm/ Yikes! Take it, take it! I don't want it, I never wanted it! I, er, umm /grabs random reader/ She gave them to me! She made me do it! Not mine, not mine, not mine! ./runs and hides/

AN: If any of you were thinking that we haven't been seeing much of Kain and Raziel so far this chapter should help with that. Actually, having more of Kain in this chapter has encouraged me with my grammar and punctuation, the Great Lord Kain does not have bad punctuation, damn it! He is very insistent on that point and non too pleased that I can get such things muddled but I'm trying, really! Down side to having more of Kain and Raziel in this chapter is that I am that much more nervous about posting it. I can do what ever the hell I like with my original characters but if I mess up with the game characters im liable to be eaten alive! So yeah, quaking in my trainers here (I don't do boots, trainers are better for running away lol).

Huge thank you to all my reader and reviewers, means a lot that you are sticking with this and apparantly enjoying it!

**Warning**, please read: This story is heading into darker territory now and will probably continue along those lines for a while, if that doesn't appeal to you and you continue reading regardless don't blame me, you have been warned.

Chapter 5: Into the dark

The police had come, of course they had.

Shortly after Dan had set her down in the living room, asking one of the girls there to keep an eye on her, Brianne heard the sirens.

_What are they going to do? What will they make of the body? He was drained of his blood, even I could see that, would have known even if I was not so sure of the killer...god, he's really dead..._

She could hear people at the front door, someone was being shown in, show to the kitchen, to the basement.

She bolted.

Ignoring the shouts of her sitter, she tore out of the room and toward the stairs. As she went she glimpsed a uniformed officer down the hall.

Charging up the stairs, her earlier slip forgotten, Brianne reached her room in record time. Bursting through the door she was lucky she didn't fall down again.

Brianne collided bodily with Kain, which as far as Brianne was concerned was right up there with running head first into brick walls. The door had closed behind her as soon as she entered the room. Leaning back against the old wood, which had far more give in it than the being stood in front of her, Brianne took a moment to clear the stars from her vision.

"I think it is time we left." He growled.

"Wha- what?"

Kain actually rolled his eyes at her as he grabbed her arm, leading her towards the window. "I said, it's time we left. Pay attention girl."

"What? You- you cant be serious!" She protested, as she dug her heals in. All she got for her troubles was yet another stumble that had her clinging to his arm to remain upright. Ok, so physical intervention, stupid and foolish. She tried reasoning with him next. "Where would we go? How would we get from place to place? Where would we stay? What about my friends? My family?" He was looking out the window now, barely paying any attention to her protests. "If I run that would be considered suspect! They would think I did it, they would be looking for me!"

Kain did look back at that. "I'd like to see them try to track you while you are with me. There are always places to hide."

"But it doesn't work like that here!"

"And why not?"

"Well- well there are people everywhere for starters! It would just be a matter of time before I was seen and... and," she looked around, "where is Raziel?"

"The basement."

"What!" She almost screeched.

"Be quiet girl!" He hissed.

"But, but, that place will be crawling with police! What was he thinking!" She hissed back.

Kain sighed, clearly irritated now. "He was talking about a spirit, hiding in the shadows down there. That boy found us while Raziel was trying to track it, when he screamed Raziel refused to give up its trail. I left him down there to get you." He was looking out the window again, ducking back in quickly before a police man walked round the corner of the house.

"Look, I appreciate the concern," if that was what it was, "but trust me, the safest and easiest way out of this mess is to wait it out. There is nothing aside from my being here to give them any reason to think I killed that boy so a couple of rounds of standard questioning and they should leave me alone, no problem!"

Kain turned on her then, terrifying. "Do you honestly think this is going to be a onetime occurrence, that I would be going hungry while I am in this world? Did it actually slip your mind as to what I am?" He snapped at her. "I can not live on bread and water Brianne, don't expect me to even try. " Brianne could feel the blood drain from her face as she cottoned on to what he was saying and where this was leading. "That body is only the first, there will be another and another, as many as it takes to satisfy my hunger. Now trust _me_ when I say from experience, if we are going to stay hidden, we need to keep those bodies spread as far and wide as possible, staying here is hardly going to help. Now come!"

Wordlessly she allowed kain to take her arm again, pulling her close as he put one foot on the sill. She didn't know what to say, what to think.

_Bang, bang, bang!_

"Brianne! Brianne! We need you down stairs now!"

Kain spun round to face the door, bringing Brianne with him, a snarl on his lips.

The handle of the door rattled but would not open; when it had shut earlier it must have been locked as well.

"Brianne, come on! Open up! You need to come down stairs _now_!"

Pushing Brianne aside Kain made to advance on the door, his patience having run out.

Panicking, Brianne threw herself between him and the door, cringing in the face of his upraised hand as he had prepared to blast the door down. A couple of adrenalin filled moments passed in which Brianne feared for her life. Instead Kain pulled her roughly aside but she clung to him, whispering desperately, "Please! Please don't! It'll make this worse, just leave it! Let me handle this!"

"Brianne, are you alright in there?" Called the voice for the other side of the door.

"Im coming! Just give me a sec, I need to get dressed properly." Brianne answered before Kain could do anything else.

"Alright, just hurry." The floor boards outside the door creaked as the person made to go back down stairs.

Snarling Kain turned back to Brianne "Fine, we will do this your way, for now, but if this escalates then it will be on your head." And in an explosion of light he was gone.

* * *

Brianne didn't rush down stairs immediately, she got changed as she had said and darting into the bathroom pulled out her games she had hidden there. The manuals and covers were removed, rolled up and tucked into her coat pocket out of sight. The bag with the boxes and games were kept in the bag and put next to her bed with the rest of her stuff. 

As soon as she was ready she was out of her room and making her way back down stairs. Must keep up appearances afer all. At the bottom of the stairs a police woman began leading her along the corridor. They got as far the living room door before someone screamed just outside.

"Robin?" The police woman tore down the hall, leaving Brianne standing at the door to the living room, listening to the frightened voices within. Another uniformed officer and two in plain clothes ran past from the kitchen, calling out to their comrade. Outside, barely audible over the sounds inside the house she could hear hushed voices and panicked exclamations. Brianne waited. Nearly twenty seconds later two others jogged past, still holding torches.

She wasn't thinking about what she was doing, not really. So as soon as the last of the officers had disappeared out the door the she was almost surprised to find her feet carrying her down the way they had come, back down to the basement. The kitchen was deserted as was the first room of the basement.

_Always keep a spare_... reaching behind a box of washing powder she pulled out another torch. Heading further down, down the stairs, down to the first room with the claw mark in the middle of the floor, through the broken door and to the room with the shadows, the room with the body.

He was still there, they hadn't touched him yet, he hadn't been moved at all since she had been here it seemed. Frozen to the spot she couldn't take her eyes off him, noticing some not so little details that she had missed the first time... how his sleeve was ripped from the elbow to just above the cuff, the small gash on his hip and the blood on the side of his head, next to his temple. Her mind couldn't seem to decide wether it was aiming for numb emptiness or frantic activity. How did it happen, why did he venture down here in the first place? How did he die? Was it the neck injury or the blow to his temple that really killed him? What were Kain and Raziel's reactions to him? Did they attack him as soon as they saw him or were they (in their minds) given no choice but to silence him? Shuddering as her thoughts began to follow ever more gruesome lines she finally forced herself to look away. She had neglected to think about Kains need to feed again, possibly because of stress, fear, denial, it didn't matter. She wasn't ready to even begin to contemplate Raziels own particular type of hunger.

Ahead the next corridor lead away, the shadows not so deep now, the light of the torch able to reach the wall where it turned yet another ninety degrees. Brianne gave the body a very wide berth as she walked around it to get the door. After she pasted him her pace quickened noticeably.

Turns out it wasn't another ninety degree turn, it was a T junction, two more doors and both of them were open. Now what?

"They went left."

"Aha!" Brianne spun round, slamming back into the wall between to two doors, one hand over her heart and the other over her mouth. "Don't do that!" She gasped.

Kain gave her an exasperated look and said dryly "Grow up." He made to stride past her, expecting her to follow, or not, he was obviously in no mood to wait for her. As he moved past her Brianne saw Frederic's body behind him and she shivered, very aware of her own mortality. Still, she had no intention of being left behind and the sounds from the rest of the house were coming closer. She followed him, but kept a few paces behind... not that it would make any difference if he did turn on her, he was so fast that he could kill her before she had chance fully realized what was going on.

It was becoming increasingly confusing down there, partly because of the sheer number of rooms and their chaotic layout but also because parts of it looked like an old, ruined version of the house above. There was furniture in one room, rotten and discolored, collapsing in on themselves where they were stacked against the walls, possibly placed there for storage, long ago. Brianne didn't get much chance to look closely though, Kain had set a fairly brisk pace and seemed to know where he was going. The next room was painted, _was_ being the key word there, now it was stained, streaked with damp and decolored just as badly as the furniture was.

Brianne sped up so she could keep Kain in her sights, not because he was walking faster or that she was falling behind, she simply couldn't see him; it was getting darker again, the light of the torch was failing. Kain led her down another corridor past two doors, one closed and one merely ajar, the shadows growing ever deeper. By the time they reached the next room Brianne couldn't see the walls at all, vague shapes and patterns in the dark was all there was to suggest that there were other items in this room too. Aware that the darkness could be down to the torch losing power she shone it up at her face and was nearly blinded by the intensity of the beam after straining to see in the black. The torch hit the ground with a horribly loud clatter in the quite that filled the rooms. Brianne froze in her tracks, stunned and disorientated, losing sight of Kain entirely, her vision filled with the colored glare from the after burn on the back of her eyes.

"Kain?" She whimpered, feeling so vulnerable without her sight. "Kain? I cant see. Where-" She was cut off as his hand clamped over her mouth, muffling her startled yelp.

"Hush, stay quiet now." His hand left her mouth, touching her shoulder then tracing down her arm to take hold of her wrist, bring it up and placing the torch back in her hand. There was a momentary loss of contact then when she might as well have been on her own as she couldn't hear him at all. Then, gently so as not to startle her into making more noise, he took hold of her other arm and began guiding her forward, slower than before. The colored glare filling her vision cleared just in time to watch Kain fade from sight next to her as the shadows closed ranks around them, consuming the light Brianne carried in her hand. The first few steps were terrifying for Brianne, she couldn't see, hadn't been able to see the floor before she lost her sight so had no idea what she was literary walking into...

She let out a sharp breath as her side caught against a door frame she had no idea was coming, knocking her sideways, making her collide with Kain with much the same result as when she had literally run into him earlier. This time there was no door for her to fall back on and the feeling of vertigo in the pitch black, of having no notion of direction or any where near her accustomed level of awareness of the space around her, was truly terrifying. Just as she was tensing herself for a painful impact with who knows what or who knows where, her sharp decent was stopped. Although, the harsh claws and powerfully muscled limbs that thwarted gravity's ambition were not much more compatible with her own more delicate frame than the cold stone below. Brianne still felt the air whoosh from her lungs when he caught her, and when he pulled her upright she had little choice but to hold on to him much closer than she was comfortable with to prevent another fall. Rearranging her next to him in the darkness he switched his grip on her arm and she felt him shift so she was slightly ahead of him. Neither of them spoke a word and Kain resumed the relentless progression forward almost immediately.

The silence was almost as suffocating as the darkness. Strained as she was and with the onset of claustrophobia begging to worm its way into her mind for the first time in her life, the gentle, almost non existent scraping hiss coming from the wall next to her was enough to make her jump. _What the hell!_ The breathy "Hush." too damn close to her ear didn't help her nerves at all but at least she was bright enough to realize quickly that it was Kain telling her to keep calm and keep quiet, but what on earth was that other noise! Kain was still guiding them steadily forwards in the dark and Brianne was hesitant to turn her head to better gauge the sound, so reliant was she on her sense of balance, despite her near death grip on Kain's arm. Still, it was frightening, having no idea as to the cause of it in such a strange, potentially dangerous situation. When she did turn her head she was surprised when she felt Kain's other arm just behind her. _What...oh..._

It clicked. The sound, rasping, hissing, the sound of two hard surfaces scraping against each other... like hard claws on stone. Kain was using the wall next to her for guidance.

He was just as blind as she.

Brianne regretted ever letting her curiosity get the better of her, for ever setting foot down here. If she was frighted before, now she was almost shaking with her fear. She could not go back, however much she wanted to, firstly she probably wouldn't be able to find her way back blind and second she didn't dare run while she was in such close proximity to Kain. So, seeing no other choice she continued on, listening to the low scraping close to her head, taking note of when it stopped and started up again, trying to keep track of how far they walked. She was certain they must be under the main grounds to the house now, they had walked too far to still be under the house itself.

Suddenly Kain stopped walking, jarring Brianne it was so unexpected. They just stood there for a moment and unable to see him, Brianne couldn't even begin to guess why. Soon he set off again, same as before though Brianne couldn't help but feel that he was more tense now.

Then she heard it. A distant thud then, just within her range of hearing, a slight taping sound, like footfalls but sharper. An niggling suspicion began to form in Brianne's mind as they moved closer to the sound.

A sharp crack resounded ahead.

Closer and closer they went but slower now, cautiously.

Another dull thud and a rapid scrabbling, scraping sound. A serpentine hiss made Brianne flinch.

Suddenly she felt the space around her open up dramatically, what was previously closed in, pressing down on her from above was now wide and echoing and for the first time she was grateful for Kain's presence at her side.

A 'whosh' sound then a low smack and a slight grunt came from somewhere to her left. Turning to look, all she saw was the same inky black that had dominated half the trip here, but then, another sound like the swosh of a stick or blade swung fast through the air and a flapping sound like soft leather caught in a sudden gust of wind. Kain let go of her arm and she felt his presence leave her side, leaving her alone in the black.

At first she thought she had imagined it, so accustomed had her eyes become to the blackness already. But no, there it was again. There, softly glowing blue in the dark, just a glimpse before it moved out of sight. Intrigued she crept closer, almost but not quite, forgetting about the dark in her wonder.

The sight that greeted her as she rounded what would have to be another corner made her gasp aloud.

It was Raziel, as she had suspected. The darkness surrounded him, wrapped around him like a shroud but did not touch him. He glowed, soft spirit light shimmering like moonlight over his skin and his eyes burning in stark contrast to the blackness that consumed everything else. He stood in what was clearly a battle stance, graceful and cat like, his narrowed gaze following something unseen in the dark. A shadow flickered in front of him, partly obscuring her view for a moment but in the next he had leapt back, no delay, no noticeable tensing before the jump. Landing lightly on his feet he coiled, immediately springing forward to slash at the space in front of him with deadly claws. The blow did not land, not as far as Brianne could see. He stayed still again, his arm and hands splayed slightly, ready to attack or defend. The shadows flickered to his side and he spun round, perfectly balanced, poised. Again he did not attack, just waited alert and ready. The darkness undulated around him swirling in almost liquid motions, beautiful and frightening, but no more than he. Like a snake something in the darkness- no, the darkness itself, struck at him, lifting him off his feet before temporarily hiding him from view, plunging her world into blackness once again. It did not last and even before his body had stopped moving after the blow, the darkness had fallen away, the spirit glow illuminating him again. Twisting mid air he landed on all fours, the feline comparison well deserved and showing now as he leapt up and slashed out around him at the moving darkness.

Something, the spirit that he dueled, hissed softly. "Unnatural creature, twissted, made thing..."

Raziel almost growled in response, anything he may have said was lost on her when he rolled clear as the inky shadows made a swooping motion from above like a bird dive bombing its pray.

He was all that she could see, the only thing the darkness couldn't smother entirely. Ghost like, the shimmering illumination that allowed her to see him now would have been hidden had there been any other source of light. The thing in the shadows attacked again and watching him dance away, fluid movements leading seamlessly from one to another, then to spring into a counter attack, raw power controlled and directed... it was breath taking.

Briefly the shadows concealed him like black velvet curtains but parted like smoke to reveal him instantly. "Little sspirit, reaching for the sstars. You could be sso much, have sso much potential but had to bring it here, here where neither it nor you belong..." The voice hissed from the shadows, a part of the shadow itself.

"Potential? And which potential are you referring to this time? Potential in regards to this hidden control you are so obsessed with?" Raziel spat, his sarcasm in full swing. He spun around again as the shadow creature came too close, nimbly jumping back. "Or is this the potential power you imply I have but refuse speak of outside of vague riddles that lost their interest after the first time I heard them?"

The shadows laughed. "What iss wrong, missplaced sspirit? You rant and rave, sso ungrateful of the gift you have been given."

"Gift! What gift! Speak plain!"

Kain had mentioned that Raziel had been trying to track a spirit down here, this was obviously it. The shadows lashed at him again and ducking to the side Raziel swung low in the air with his claws. He definitely struck home this time as all around the shadows gave out a shriek of pain and, just for a moment, the darkness flickered and vanished, the light of the torch shining clear again.

It was a cave! A genuine, natural, water carved cave! And big too, the very roughly circular floor gently sloping down toward the middle, polished smooth with a scattering of small gravel toward the center, like they were in a dried up pond. Kain stood only a few paces to her right, he hadn't strayed as far from her as she had thought. Raziel was on the other side of the bowl that they now stood in. Briefly, before the light was smothered again, Brianne saw a what looked like a giant, six limbed lizard with a human like head, its long whip-like tail flicking from side to side. It was utterly black, like a hole in space with no visible detail at all, not even its eyes.

The darkness covered them again like flood water breaking its dam.

"Unnatural thing, had no choice, thosse that made it couldn't let it use itss power for itsself, oh no, no, no, it iss a tool, toolss musstn't think for themsselvess." The shadows hissed. Brianne though it sounded spiteful, angry. Raziels only response to was to lash out with unbelievable speed to his right, almost colliding with a wall that was briefly illuminated where he touched it, using it to it spring back into the center of the cave again at the last moment. None of his strikes hit their mark and all he got for his troubles was a vicious blow to his back that sent him tumbling to the ground.

"Poor, poor ssoul. To sstruggle sso, must be sso tired now, alwayss fighting, musst go thiss way, musst go that way... sso tired..." The voice was like the sound of the wind through trees, soft as it echoed around the cave and chilling.

Raziel pulled himself up to his knees and to Brianne's horror, no further than that.

"You claim to know so much about me, if you are so very keen to share then why don't you stop spinning such pretty pictures with your words and just say what you mean. I'm tired of riddles."

The shadows danced around him but thankfully didn't attack. "Ssuch a wasste, ssuch a pity to be worn down sso. Ruined! Ruined in body, in heart you- akk!"

Before Brianne, and it seemed the shadow spirit itself, knew what was happening, Raziel had managed to go from kneeling almost submissively on the floor to catapulting himself forward, claws at the ready. For a few confused moments everything was black and Raziel was hidden from view.

"I said, I am tired of riddles!" Suddenly the darkness lifted. Brianne could have cheered.

Raziel had somehow managed to pin the shadow spirit flat on its back on the floor, his claws clamped down on its forelegs, his knees trapping the second set leaving its hind limbs and tail to lash out frantically behind him.

"Now," Raziel said, suddenly cool and clam sounding, "Lets see if we can be a little more civil about this. I am Raziel and you are?"

"You! You can not, thiss is unprecedented- !" Raziel cut the shadows tirade short when he suddenly reared back, pulling its 'shoulders' and head off the ground then slammed the shadow back down, _hard_.

"Unprecedented this may well be but you have been running rings around me since I got here, now tell me your name!"

The was a pause while the shadow seemed to be considering the situation it now found itself in. Finally it said, in a low voice, "Ssessdorass."

"Sesdoras. A pleasure. What are you?" He snapped. There was a pause as the shadow glared at its captor (probably) before another voice answered for it.

"She's an elemental." Three sets of eyes turned to look back the way Kain and Brianne had come through. Sesdoras might have looked as well but with what was basically a silhouette to judge by, it was almost impossible to tell. "A dark elemental, obviously, she has lived down here for almost a century."

Brianne was the first to recover "Annabel! You - what, er... She?" Ok, so maybe recover would be too strong a word. Next to her Kain took a step closer to the old woman. All Annabel did was to acknowledge him with a slight tilt of her head, a gesture that seemed to sit well with him.

"I can see why you did not want to talk about them, I probably would have done the same your position." She turned what Brianne would have to call her poker face to regard Raziel where he had Sesdoras pinned to the floor. Brianne had to give her credit for not cringing as she had done. "What's going on Ses?"

"He doessn't know, the sshadowss can not touch him; he can't control it, though it iss already hiss to command..."

"I thought I told you that I have had enough of word play." Raziel growled above the prone shadow.

"I don't think she can help it."

Kain circled closer to Annabel "You seem to think you know a lot about what is going on here." He still managing to make Brianne jump even though he sounded calm.

"This is my home."

"Such things don't necessarily go hand in hand."

"I am more of the opinion that if I did not know its secrets then I would merely live here, it would not be _my_ home." To this she received a nod of his head in acknowledgment, an almost identical gesture to what she had shown him.

"Hosstesss, I assk, help me up, thiss sspirit will not reasson!"

"_I_ will not reason!" Raziel exclaimed, seeming less likely than ever to let his captive lose. Then, almost to himself he growled "Well at least that wasn't in riddles."

"Perhaps if you let her up I will be able to explain what she is trying to say."

"No." his tone brooked no argument. Brianne couldn't help but feel more than a little worried for Annabel when she pressed further.

"I doubt she will cooperate like this."

"To be perfectly honest I don't really care, _she_ has been rattling on at me for hours now, I find I'm quite enjoying this change of circumstance."

"Foolissh sspirit, discipline iss the path to control, you have no control yet."

Kain almost seemed to be enjoying himself "That's valid enough."

"Shut up. I suppose you find her perfectly comprehensible, you two do seem to speak a similar language. And didn't you say you had no interest in running around after shadows?"

"It just got interesting. Besides, if she and I speak a similar language, as you say, you should be able to figure out what she is telling you with little trouble."

"Only because you have such a love of word play you practically forced it down my throat the entirety of my vampiric unlife. Well, it seems I now lack the physical capacity for that."

Raziel's mood seemed to be spiraling into ever darker places and Brianne was becoming increasingly afraid of where this would lead. Kain was clearly no longer amused either.

"Let her go Raziel, so we can finish this." Raziel did not answer him, he was glaring at Sesdoras, the look on his face was terrifying. Pinned beneath him, the shadow's struggles grew more frantic.

Close by, Annabel was looking increasingly worried. "Please let her go! Think about it, she is a dark elemental but her powers do not merely stretch to the manipulation of shadows, but all forms of darkness! Touching her will rouse the darkness in you, you must let her go!" Raziel did not respond.

Seeing this Kain strode forwards and made to pull Raziel off the shadow himself. As soon as his hand latched on to his arm, Raziel turned on him, lashing out with dazzling speed, knocking Kain back. Sesdoras scrambled out from under him, darting towards a crevice in the wall when the momentum from Raziels attack and Kain's grip dislodged him form his position. Raziels blow sent Kain staggering back barely a foot from Brianne. She yelped, inadvertently dropping the torch, its spinning light cast the whole cave in rotating light and shadow. She didn't dare stop to pick it up as she ran back the way they came, fearing a full scale fight was about to break out between them. She paused only momentarily to help Annabel who was also in full retreat and moving with surprising speed for a woman of her age. Stopping when they reached the 'door' she turned back, unable to simply leave them, her curiosity yet again overriding common sense.

Kain had barely stopped moving from were he had been hit before Raziel was chasing after Sesdoras. He looked completely feral, nothing like how he had been earlier.

"Raziel, stop!" Again Kain's warning went unheaded, or perhaps, unheard. Reaching forward the air crackled around Kains clawed hand and suddenly Raziel was suspended mid air before he was sent hurtling towards a stone column made form where the water had once flowed around it. Before he had chance to hit it however, Raziel, his eyes still locked on the shadow, used his own telekinesis to pull her from the edge of the deep crevice that she was reaching for. Moments after Raziel hit the ground, Sesdoras hit the wall close to him. He grabbed hold of the shadows forelimb in what must have been a very painful grip before she had chance to fully regain her wits. Sesdoras lashed wildly at him, needle like claws, five sets of them, drew many thin turquoise cuts over his flesh in rapid succession. Raziel ignored it.

"You refused my command to cease your inane babbling, you insisted on hounding me to the point where I felt I had little choice but to confront you directly." Raziel sent a telekinetic bolt at Kain before he could get too close. "You imply I have no control, that my power does not fulfill its potential. Well, rest assured I have power enough to silence you."

All this had taken a matter of seconds, Brianne was rooted to the spot, morbidly fascinated by the scene unfolding before her even as she was horrified by it. Sesdoras screeched as Raziel reached for the cowl over his face. Brianne knew what was coming but couldn't tear her eyes away as much as she knew she may regret it. There was a darkness in his eyes now that put her in mind of how he had seemed in Avernus Cathedral. Close by Kain advanced but it was already too late.

As if in slow motion she saw him draw the thick fabric down, revealing deadly sharp exposed fangs... the distorted musculature where his jaw had been torn from his face... the pale ridges of bone running down his neck. Long wispy trails of black unwound from the shadow like tattered threads from a fraying rope, circling around their source before one by one they were drawn away. Just as Brianne thought that Sesdoras would unravel completely like a badly knitted scarf, the first of the smoky wisps reached Raziel.

His entire body became enshrouded in shadow, not the featureless silhouette of Sesdoras, it was more like the inverse of the light that had allowed her to see him when the supernatural darkness had hidden everything else. He recoiled sharply, releasing Sesdoras suddenly as though burned and the withing threads of black energy that coiled around her returned to their source like a rubber bands pulled taught then released. Shrieking, the shadow fled across the cave to the fissure in the wall opposite, moving so fast that her legs were almost a blur. Not so fast that Brianne couldn't make out some of the faint features now visible after some of her dark energy was drained. Her lizard like body was covered in a very fine black fur, almost exactly like black velvet, long thin dagger like claws extended from four fingered reptilian hands at the ends of the six identical limbs. The smooth, black, human like head was elongated, the mouth too wide, full of jagged teeth and it had no eyes what so ever, the contours of her face ran seamlessly from the wide cut off gaping nose and high cheeks to the sweeping forehead.

She vanished through the fissure that was barely a fifth her size, disappearing into the shadows within.

Raziel had collapsed on the ground, his entire body racked with violent tremors and the glare from his wide eyes was drastically reduced by the shadows surrounding him. Kain was quick to his side, looking concerned if a little uncertain as to what to do about it.

"Raziel-"

Raziel jumped at the sound of his voice, scrambling away, too unsteady to climb to his feet properly. "_Keep that thing away from me!_"

Kain looked a little startled to say the least. "What?"

Brianne's sentiment exactly. Keep what away, Sesdoras? Kain?

Raziel was crouched next to stalagmite large enough that it had almost reached its mate on the roof of the cave, close to where Brianne watched the scene unfold with wide eyes. His hand clutched convulsively at his chest, his claws gouging new trails into his flesh after the wisp of energy taken from Sesdoras had healed the others. A trickle of bright turquoise-blue managed to escape and she watched in morbid fascination as it made its steady way down his breastbone to pause on the brink before it fell down, down to land inaudibly on his hip. Another drop was quick on its tail. "Please, no more, don't, the hunger, I- it's not me, I can think, I can talk, not just the hunger, not just a force, I am me, I am Raziel, I am Raziel, _I am Raziel_!"

Kain snatched his hand away from his chest, more turquoise beads falling down to his hip, making their way to join their predecessors in a slight hollow close to his spine

"Enough!" Something in the tone of his voice must have broken through because Raziel ceased his struggles immediately, it was like watching a soldier snapping to attention, which it probably was. "What the hell are you talking about?" Raziel stared at him, his eyes still wide. "Raziel," Kain warned, though he still seemed more concerned than angry.

"A dark elemental, the power of darkness, I am imbued with that power, that darkness... " He seemed to be talking to himself as much as he was talking to Kain, his voice was strained. Brianne crept closer to try to hear him properly.

"What are you-"

Raziel cut him off "I have seen it before, I have felt it, in Nosgoth while I looked for you, while I was the instrument that cleared the path to you and any others that I sought."

A look of horror slowly came over Kains face while Brianne was still trying to figure out what on earth Raziel was going on about,_ he didn't run into any dark elementals in Nosgoth did he? _

"I couldn't feel it before but that darkness, that power must have unlocked it." He was becoming distressed again, beginning to squirm in Kains grasp. "Like, like," he let out a bark of laughter then, "like two bodies of water, brought together in one vessel then split in two again. The containers may be different but they can never truly be separate again, it's too late. I- I _absorbed_ part of it and in return it- it-_ I_- " Again a broken laugh escaped him only this time it sounded more like a sob. "I remember, the pain, distortion, then nothing, just nothing. No sensation, just me, me and my thoughts, over and over. And the hunger, tearing, consuming - but maybe it wasn't, maybe that was just me, all that I am." He was suddenly disturbingly still, Brianne could hardly breathe. _Oh Raziel..._

"That is not all that you are Raziel, not even close." Kain growled, "If that were all there was to you then how could you have accomplished all that you have, seen the things you have seen? Fight this!"

"I don't-"

"You are _not_ giving in to this, understand?" It wasn't a suggestion, it was an order.

The tremors that had wracked his body before were back full force now. Suddenly he turned his furious and somewhat mad eyes on Kain, "You! How would you know! You couldn't- You," He growled, "You orchestrated this!"

"No! I never wanted-"

"Liar! You knew! You knew from the start didn't you! I remember, Kain, 'Cast him in' your own words. And for what? I was never sentenced, my crime was never stated, not even to me!" He sounded furious now, his body tense, ready to snap.

"Raziel-"

"My only crime was to exist! My dark gifts, my evolution, my wings, were down to you! You made me what I am after all, now as before."

"Listen to me!" Brianne thought Kain sounded a little desperate now and even she could see they were not merely in dangerous waters now; now they were surrounded by sharks and they smelled blood in the water.

"No! All I have ever done is listen to you, even _after_ you ordered my execution and look where it got me! I think its time to break a bad habit."

Before Kain could say anything else Raziel flung his arm to the side, using Kains own grip on him and his less than battle ready stance to send him off balance. A solid punch to Kains midriff caused him to lose his grip entirely. Kain kicked out at him but Raziel jumped back into the shadows behind where the torch lay forgotten on the ground and vanished, the shadows surrounding him melting into the darkness, taking the rest of him with them.

"Raziel! Enough of this! I do not what to fight you, that was never my true intent!"

Raziel was beyond listening and emerged from the shadows that hung on the wall of the cave behind Kain like a demon of nightmares, dark energy still clinging to him. He leaped at Kain catching him off guard, landing a deep gash across the junction of Kains neck and shoulder that began to heal instantly. If Kain hadn't, on some battle instinct honed to perfection in the long ages of his unlife, dodged away, the blow would have been much more severe, it was as though Raziel had tried to decapitate him with his claws alone. Kains telekinesis had Raziel hurtling across the cave with enough force to crack the stone when he hit. He landed right in front of Brianne who let out a frightened squeak at the suddenness and the violence she was suddenly presented with, beyond what she had witnessed between Raziel and Sesdoras. Dimly glowing eyes twisted with uncontrollable rage met hers. Frozen in time she couldn't think, couldn't move. A human hand pulled on her arm, dragging her away. Kains telekinesis latched on to Raziel again but Brianne was already running, guided by Annabel now, the meager light of the old woman's key ring torch pointing the way.

If Brianne had any idea of what she was going to do before all this had started, all that had now scattered to the wind... now she feared for her life and the lives of everyone around her as never before .

* * *

TBC

* * *

AN: I know I didn't exactly spell it out but if you cant guess what Raziel was going on about at the end there I'll eat my hat! (so to speak, I need my hat to keep warm!). I didn't want to actually _say_ what was going on there, just didn't feel right to say it out loud. 

AN the 2nd: Now, excuse my language but holy shit this chapter was a roller coaster and a half! The first part practically wrote itself and the very end took on a life of its own! Kain was never intended to meet Brianne in her room after the police arrived, that was supposed to be a tiny mini scene, he just appeared and took over! And Raziel was certainly not meant to go mad! Ok, so maybe there was a fair amount of writers block in between but I don't care, the beginning and end of this chapter more than make up for the hair pulling experience in the middle! It is as though Kain and Raziel have hijacked this fiction and I, the damn author for crying out loud, am holding on for dear life! But the really cool part is that I have the key points of this story planed out in advance and you would have thought that having the characters running around dictating their own story might cause problems but it hasn't! Quite the contrary, it has given me more ideas and the Kain and Raziel edit of this chapter is better than what I had originally planned! What a buzz! Right, now that im done bombarding you with exclamations im going to go write the next bit, I want to see what they get up to next! LOL :D Till next time...


	6. The dead of night

They Wouldn't Believe You

Disclaimer: "I do not own Legacy of Kain or anything related to it -_ Stop poking me! Yes I know! _- nor do I own any other reference to any movie, song, TV show, game or any other reference to any copyrighted items, concepts, art and so on. - _Can I have it back now? Fine, fine, _- I am making no profit from this nor do I have any intent to make a profit from this. - _What about indirectly? OUCH! Ok, ok I can take a hint! _- This Chapter is sponsored by CASWIP, Characters Against Stories With Implausible Plot, defending you from two dimensional characters and shallow plot lines. Give it gore or give it doves but give it character! - _That's it, I have done what you asked now give it back! ... you wouldn't dare... But that's evil!... No!... Mr Stripy Bear! Noooo!"_

Thank you sooo much for reading and reviewing, it means a lot that you are keeping up with this.

Chapter 6: The dead of night

The tiny light from the torch darted over door after door as Annabel guided them through the ruined bowels of her home, counting under her breath. After fleeing from the cave the two women had latched on to each other and had yet to let go, not that either of them had really noticed. Brianne was utterly lost, the path her elderly guide led her along had taken them through rooms like the ones she had seen before, decaying mockeries of the main house, other were simple (and often very small) stone, box like places, with no adornments what so ever. Their wanderings had even taken them through another unworked cave like the one... like the one before. Every so often they would splash through puddles where the water had leaked from above after the last rains. Brianne was still floored by what had happened as was Annabel who had not stopped shaking since they had escaped.

What _had_ happened back there? As far as Brianne could tell Raziel had been about to... to _devour_ that shadow, Sesdoras, after its dark power had affected him somehow... He had started to, but he had pulled back as soon as he had begun, as soon as he had absorbed the first part of its dark energy in fact. And then what? What had he been talking about?

..._"I couldn't feel it before but that darkness, that power must have unlocked it."_ ...

Unlocked what! The darkness bit was easy, that was about Sesdoras and her power but the rest?

... _"like two bodies of water, brought together in one vessel then split in two again. The containers may be different but they can never truly be separate again, it's too late. I- I absorbed part of it..."_...

Two bodies of water made one then split in halftwo containers... it was all a load of mumble jumble to her. The part about absorbing something, part of what she did not know, that bit had chilled her, why she had no idea.

"I want you to tell me about those games. The Legends of Kain." Annabel said next to her, interrupting her train of thought.

"Huh? Why? And its _Legacy_ of Kain."

"Either way, I want you to tell me everything about them, if I know at least some of their history I might have a better idea of what do."

"To be honest I don't think there is much we _can _do." Powerless, that was how she had felt watching the events in that cave unfold.

"We will see about that, in the meantime I want to do everything I can to be prepared. You love those games, or you did, you could tell me the entire story backwards if you wanted to, now talk."

Further and further they walked, they had left what may once have been the more hospitable rooms behind, now it was all twisted, narrow corridors and small cubbyhole like rooms. More than once Annabel stopped and turned back to take another corridor still muttering and counting under her breath while Brianne talked. Every so often Annabel would interrupt Brianne's monolog to ask a question or to press her for more detail or more background, only some of which Brianne was able to provide.

Eventually, just as Annabel had managed to squeeze every last bit of information regarding Legacy of Kain out of Brianne they reached a set of sharply ascending stairs, only wide enough for one person and too low for anyone over five and a half foot to stand up properly. Easing their way up the two women practically had to crawl up with Annabel in the lead incase she slipped. That was all well and good for Annabel but for Brianne it meant that if her elderly friend did fall then she would be the one to cushion it and Brianne was feeling battered enough already. Eventually the stairs gave way to a very small landing that was so low Brianne kept one hand on the ceiling to make sure she didn't knock her head.

"Brianne, help me with this."

Annabel shone the small light on an old mettle bar blocking what looked like more stone. A second look showed that it was a door, and a tiny one at that, but how on earth they would ever move it was beyond her.

"Pull you sleeves over your hands, the rust on that will shred them to ribbons."

Obeying, Brianne grasped hold on the bar as best as she could through her sleeves, it took several false starts to figure out how to hold it. It took a few more attempts to work out how to lift the bar as well, the rust had adhered it to the metal hooks that it rested in but it did shake loose on the seventh attempt. The bar clattered to the ground and Brianne jumped back to avoid it crushing her feet, only Annabel's hand on her back stopped her falling back down the stone stairs. Shaking her sleeves Brianne watched orange flakes and dust float to the floor.

"Don't bother with that yet, we still have to open the door. It opens out, the bar was just to stop people from levering it open from the outside. It was an old escape rout from when the house was first made, it comes out by the stream, you know the rocks where it goes down that bank?"

Brianne nodded, she had been down there a few times in the summer. She was a little shocked that all that time she had been sitting on those rocks she had been so close to a hidden door and not known it. It was a small comfort that it obviously hadn't been used in a long time but still...

Annabel was scanning the small landing with her mini torch. Reaching down she picked up a long peace of wood that had obviously been worked on with rusted metal supports running its entire length and encircling it regularly. She examined it closely, frowning before she hefted it by it stouter end, probably its handle, and slammed it against the wall, not too hard but non too gently either. It shattered, rotten to the core, only the metal supports stopped it from falling apart. She discarded it immediately, tossing it back into the corner that it had been lying in before. Pointing at the fallen bar with the torch she said,

"We will have to use that, it's a bit shorter than I would have liked but we have no other choice."

"What do we need that for?"

"We need it to open the door. What did you think we were going to do? Push it? Say 'open sesame'? Look, you see that notch at the side of the door there? Put one end of the bar in there then push the other end towards the door and leaver it open, it's the only way."

Nodding shakily, Brianne rearranged her sleeves again and crouched down to lift the bar. It was almost like when she had done workout in high school; this was not some fancy light weight steel, this was old fashioned, very solid, very strong and rather heavy iron. Balancing it carefully she maneuvered it into the notch Annabel had pointed out.

"Hmm, it's a little wide for this." Annabel muttered next to her, doing nothing for Briannes nerves. Easing herself between the bar and the wall Brianne braced herself then started to push.

Nothing.

She tried again. Still nothing. Again and again till she was panting for breath and felt like screaming with frustration but still the damn door refused to move!

"GGRRRAAAHHHAA!" An all mighty roar resounded back the way they had come, full of rage and frustration, making both women jump and Brianne yelp with fright and almost let go of the bar.

"W-what the hell was that!" Annabel stuttered, unusually for her.

"It was Raziel! I know it was! He sounded close!"

"He sounded angry. Come on, we have to get this door open!" She pulled her own sleeves down over her hands and took hold of the other side of the bar. "On the count of three. One, two, three!" Both woman grunted with effort, Brianne pushing while Annabel pulled.

Still nothing!

"Damn it!"

"Again, and save your breath! One, two, three!" Eyes scrunched up with effort, her entire face contorted, Brianne pushed for all she was worth.

Finally it moved, just an inch, a sprinkling of dust falling to the floor as the stone shuddered but at least it had moved! Down the corridor, frighteningly close now, there was the horrible sounds of falling rubble that echoed back and forth in the winding tunnels and rumbled in the stone beneath their feet.

"Come on! We nearly have it! One, two, three!" Again they fought to pry the door open enough for them to slip through but it seemed that their luck was out because it would not move again.

"Again! One, Two- Ahh!" Annabel cut off with a skreak as Kain came charging up from the corridor below, the steep and confining stairs barely slowing him down. He was covered with cuts from where he had fought Raziel, most of them were small and he probably barely noticed them but there were a couple of deep ones too... most noticeably straight down his left thigh, almost running from knee to hip, although how Raziel had managed that Brianne had no idea. None of them were healing as well as the first one in the cave had, he must have lost too much blood... or not had enough to begin with. Coming to a stop right next to Brianne and Annabel he pulled the bar from their now uncaring grasp and sent it clanging down the stairs. He rased his hand to the door, the air shimmering around his claws and the door slammed open, the huge rock that had fallen in front of it was thrown clear and landed with an huge splash in the stream.

"Run!" He made to go back down the stairs.

"Wait!" Brianne called back to him. He stopped on the first few stairs, his hand bracing against the floor of the landing as he was far too tall to stand up strait in the small space. He looked back at her, agitated, impatient and almost angry looking at the interruption. Brianne recoiled slightly but after everything that had happened her curiosity would not be reigned in so easily. "What- at the cave back there, what happened?" His eyes narrowed slightly as he regarded her. "The things Raziel said, the way he acted, what was that?"

"You mean to tell me you don't know?" He sounded almost incredulous, his voice laced with scorn.

"I-"

"And here I was under the impression that you already knew so much about us and our past, you and your games." He climbed back up the stares, his entire body taut with the power, the rush of battle, stooping low in the confined space as Brianne shrank away from him, her back to the wall. He pressed close to her his face mere inches from hers, the stench of blood nauseating, her tattered courage falling to pieces under his scrutiny.

He pulled back a bit, Brianne slowly releasing the breath she had been holding, his gaze was harsh and cruel and his voice when he spoke was tight with dark emotion, with power as he explained,

"When you called us here we were drawn from the last point in our time line that those games had shown you, on top of the ruined city after I had fought that creature in its depths." He studded her carefully, taking in her reactions to his words with a bitter sneer. "You took us both from the same point in time Brianne, regardless of our current state of being. You brought Raziel here after he was drawn into the Reaver. Not before, not during, _after_."

_He cant be serious, he cant... oh no..._

_..."Please, no more, don't, the hunger, I- it's not me, I can think, I can talk, not just the hunger, not just a force, I am me, I am Raziel, I am Raziel, I am Raziel!"... _

_..."I remember, the pain, distortion, then nothing, just nothing. No sensation, just me, me and my thoughts, over and over. And the hunger, tearing, consuming - but maybe it wasn't, maybe that was just me, all that I am."... _

...the way he had said it, how he had looked... for something to affect someone so deeply, to leave such a scar as to give them that haunted look... _Raziel, I'm sorry_...

Kain watched her closely, he seemed to find some satisfaction in the sickening realization that had overcome her, but it was bitter. Distant and cruel he continued, "What ever magic it was that pulled us through space and time did not allow for the presence of the Reaver in any form, thus returning Raziel, _part _of him, to the form he had previously occupied, the form that you are also most familiar with, coincidently." He almost hissed the last word, filling it with as much distaste as she had ever heard him use.

"P-part?" She almost chocked on the word, she felt sick.

"Part. Half. The other half remains where it has and always shall be, trapped in an unending cycle within the Reaver. Think, Brianne, think about what he said- _while he fought his way through Nosgoth and yet was the instrument that cleared the way,_ he meant that literally. He _remembers, _that is what happened in that cave, that is why he is acting the way he is now."

Back down the tunnel there was a rumble of displaced masonry. Kain twisted round in the cramped space, eyes narrowed, intense. Sparing her one last glance he said, "I don't know how this will play out, when or if he will ever be able to recover but for now I suggest you run, far and fast."

He darted back down the stairs, the air around him humming with power as he prepared for battle once again. Belatedly, Brianne realized he was favoring his injured leg.

Annabel grabbed hold of Brianne's hand where she stood staring after him in shock and began pulling her outside. Brianne stumbled after her, numb with the revelation of what she had learned. Ducking through the tiny doorway and out into the freezing night air, brilliant stars blazing above them, she could hear the sounds of combat emanating from the tunnel behind them. Gasping in the cold the two were running away from the stream as fast as they were able without losing their footing or leaving Annabel behind in the dark.

* * *

Above them the stars shone brightly, the small sliver of the moon just visible, the air was completely clear and cold. Squinting in the night, Brianne could not make out the light from the house through the trees. She couldn't even tell if Annabel was even leading them back to the house, not that she was particularly concerned with anything other than getting as far away from Raziel as possible at the moment. Clinging to Annabel, the old woman's thick woolen jumper comforting against her arm as she attempted to guided them around or over the various plants and fallen wood that littered the way. Ducking under tree branches and around sprawling hedges, the stress and exertion was showing on Annabel, they were slowing down and the old woman was panting with effort, her face contorted. Brianne strained to hear anything in the night but aside from them there was nothing. Fearing for the health of her elderly friend, Brianne slowed to a walk. Annabel protested but not much. Even that was not enough as she soon she was finally forced to stop. 

Leaning against a tree Annabel said, haltingly, "You'd best - go on with out me - keep going till you get to the road - the village has a boarding house, here," She reached into her pocket and pulled out a fifty pound note and a small, one use chemical light, like the ones found in fanfares and amusement parks. She smiled, "For emergencies- you never know never know- when one will pop up. Take them." Brianne did so hesitantly.

"But what about you?" As she talked her breath formed clouds in the air that drifted away into nothing in the gentle breeze, the cold biting at her skin through her clothes.

"Oh I'll catch up- once I have caught my breath- haven't done any running in a long time." She tried to laugh but it came out as more of a wheeze. "Or failing that- I'll go back to the house, tell them some story- about seeing someone in the yard or hearing something- and panicking. I'll figure something out. Now get going or-"

There was a thunderous crash behind them, full of the sound of splintering wood.

"Or we could go now." Brianne said as she pulled Annabel along. She still had no idea where she was going, only that anywhere that lead them away from that crash was good with her. She tried to jog but gave up when Annabel stumbled. Nothing was said about leaving Annabel behind again, they both knew that Brianne wouldn't listen now.

"Any idea where we should go?" Brianne whispered.

"Just keep going forward." Annabel didn't whisper, she didn't have the breath for it.

Another crash, to their right now.

"You sure about that?"

"Not anymore."

Brianne steered them left - bugger the road, there were plenty of roads in this part of England, they would find one sooner or later. Moving at a fairly steady pace they wove their way around trees and brambles that snagged on their clothes slowing them even more. Just when Brianne's trousers had caught on the thorns of very nasty and particularly wild looking bramble a shout sounded right behind her.

Turning as best she could she ducked on some previously hidden instinct when Raziel came sailing out of the black, most likely thrown by Kain who emerged like a ghost behind him. He probably wouldn't have hit her if she hadn't ducked but now she had gotten herself tangles in even more of the wild bramble. Raziel hit a tree close to her, his hip catching a branch as he fell making him land at an odd angle. He didn't even stand up before he blasted Kain off his feet to return the favor. Still cloaked in darkness he moved with unnatural speed and Brianne, who had been frantically trying to untangle herself, could hardly see him. He made to go after Kain but stopped as he was about to go round her and Brianne froze like a rabbit in the headlights. Shadowed, his wide eyes looked empty.

He stepped up to her, within touching distance, reaching up to take a loose stand of her hair in his claws, then down to where a bramble had caught on to her sleeve when she ducked. A sharp tug had it free and Brianne flinched.

Snarling, his hand moved in front of her and before she knew what had happened or why, a sharp blast of his telekinesis sent her tumbling the short distance to the ground, thankfully away from most of the brambles. Before she had even fully registered that he had knocked her down he was above her, his thighs straddling her hips and his hands braced either side of her head, his face frighteningly close to hers. She heard Annabel gasp and Kain approach again but her mind was not particularly focused on that, things like the possibility of her to suddenly melding into the earth were running around her head instead.

Slowly he sat up, sitting on her thighs and regarding her like he had never seen anything like her before, his head tilted to one side quizzically. Now she had _some_ breathing room she let her eyes flicker around to try and see what Annabel, and more importantly, Kain, was doing. She didn't dare move her head.

Kain, even more battered looking than before, was stood next to Annabel, has hand on her shoulder to keep her still, a very intense look on his face. She could almost see his mind working a mile a minute. _Of course, he isn't going to share his great scheme, that would be too easy for the rest of us, bastard._

To Brianne's utter horror he began to leadAnnabel away, his hand over her mouth to silence any protests. Brianne wanted to call out to him but she was just too frightened of Raziel as he loomed over herto make any sound. All too soon Kain vanished from sight leaving Brianne alone in the darkwith Raziel, the soft glow of the light Annabel had given her lay a short distance away from when Raziel had knocked her to the floor. He was almost completely invisible now, even his eyes were barely showed up in the dark.

Just when she was starting to panic he said, softly, "Can you hear me?"

"What?"

"Can you hear me?"

"Yes." Somehow she had the feeling that witty responses would not go down well.

"Can you see me?"

_Eh? What is he talking about?_ "Not- not really, you're still all, all shadowy."

"Oh." He brought his hands up, trance like, examining them, running his claws over one then the other. "How do I stop it?"

"I, er, I don't know." The look he sent her wasn't very encouraging so she tried again. "Well er, um," _Don't mention the Reaver, don't mention the Reaver..._ "I- I suppose you could, er... does- does this feel any different to how you normally feel, this shadow?"

He paused, looking at her calmly before his gaze drifted to some point in the distance past Brianne's head. Eventually he said, in almost a whisper, "Yes."

"Well, um, perhaps if you, if you tried to think how it was before and then try to go back to that it might go away?"

He nodded slowly and shut his eyes, leaving Brianne with little more than his outline against the stars above to see him by. He seemed quite relaxed, a complete contrast to Brianne. She was just glad there was very little weight to him. He leaned back a little his face tilting up to the sky and as she watched the shadows surrounding him slowly, oh so slowly, began to ripple and swirl over his body leaving a comforting glow in its wake. She almost smiled in relief when he opened his eyes and they burned with their old fierce glow. The relief quickly left as he looked back down at her and it was apparent by the look on his face that something was still not right with him at all.

"Can you see me?" He said just as softly as before, repeating his earlier question.

"Yes." He smiled then, it was just something about his eyes, you don't need a mouth to smile she supposed.

He reached back down then, resting his hands either side of her head, easing himself down so he was lying on top of her fully. One arm snaked round her head in what almost seemed a possessive gesture. "I can see you."

Brianne was getting extremely uncomfortable now, because of his proximity, the way his hip and ribs were digging into her, the cold hard ground beneath her, the damn brambles still clinging to her clothes. She was shivering with the cold while Raziel seemed utterly oblivious._ Why the hell did Kain have to leave me alone with the mad wraith!_

"Your hair is not black." He observed, almost sounding surprised by this. Brianne kept her mouth shut, partly because she was terrified of saying something wrong and angering him and partly because it was non too pleasant being so close to him like this.

He rested his head gently on her shoulder then, his forehead just brushing the side of her jaw. "Can you feel me?"

"Y-yes."

His claws began making patterns in the ground next to her head while he watched. Suddenly, his hand clenched into a fist in the dirt, his whole body going rigid. It passed as quickly as it came, he relaxed, letting the dirt fall from his grasp. "Why?"

Now it was Briannes turn to tense up, more so than she already was. _Why what? Oh please, please don't expect me to answer that._

"Why?" he repeated, even softer now. She didn't reply, couldn't reply.

For a minute they just lay there, Brianne still shivering with the cold.

"Say something to me."

"What w-would you have me s-say?"

"I just want to hear your voice."

"Err," _Damn it, why did this have to be so difficult? Bugger it, in for a penny, in for a pound... _She voiced the first thing that came to her head, "H-hickory dickory doc, the m-mouse ran up t-the clock. The c-clock s-struck one, the mouse r-ran down. Hickory d-dickory doc." She stumbled over the lyrics, too cold and uncomfortable to hit the notes right. Raziel lifted himself up so he could see her properly, looking like she was the mad one and not he. "R-ring a ring of r-roses, a p-pocket full of p-poses, ah tissue, ah tissue, w-we all fall d-down." She felt it more than she saw it, a slight shaking than ran the length of his form and back again. "A-ashes in t-the water, a-ashes in the s-sea, we all j-jump up with a-a one t-two three."

"What is that?" He interrupted her. She heard it in his voice that time; he was laughing at her!

"H-hay! I'm not that b-bad!"

"Did I say you were?"

"You're laughing at m-me." He actually did laugh aloud then. "Alright, alright n-no m-more nursery rhymes."

"Oh don't stop, please." He was still laughing. _Rotten git_. She back peddled on that thought and shuddered.

"I er..." Raziel had turned his attention back to his hands again, sitting up, stretching his arm out, examining the whole limb. He stopped laughing.

Just when Brianne was about to pick up where she left off he said.

"Why doesn't it hurt?" His hand passed over his face then down his chest to pass through the void between his ribs and hips, never touching.

"Er, w-what?"

"Me. Why don't I hurt? This- this should- shouldn't it?" He was shaking again. Brianne was getting frantic, she had hoped that the laughter meant that he was recovering but no such luck. Besides, if he changed his mood any faster she felt like she would get whiplash trying to keep up.

"I- I don't k-know."

"Why not?"

"Er.."

He was up and away before she could think of anything else, striding off into the night. Aside from not wanting to be left alone in the middle of nowhere in the dark, Brianne didn't think it would be a good idea for him to wonder off like this, never mind that he was over one thousand years old. Stiffly, she scrambled up after him but was pulled up short by the brambles still clinging to her clothes. Something tore and the wicked thorns made it past her clothes to scratch her skin. She cried out.

The sound had barely died before he was at her side, unhooking the brambles quickly and efficiently. Brianne could feel that whiplash coming on any second now. His hands settled on her waist, guiding her away from the bramble patch, him walked backward, facing her.

He stopped, just looking at her again. Now that she was more exposed in the open air, the cold bit into her more fiercely than ever, she had already lost the feeling in her hands and feet, her ears and nose were ablaze.

"I- I'm c-cold."

"Cold?" He made it sound completely absurd.

"C-c-cold." She repeated, her teeth chattering uncontrollably now.

"Why are you cold?" He still sounded unconvinced.

"I-its n-night, late a-a-autumn, its c-c-cold."

"You're shaking." His hand came up to cup her face and she tried to pull away; he was just as cold as everything else out here. His other hand caught the back of her head, holding her still while he traced the line of her jaw then down her throat.

"S-stop it." She could hardly talk, her words coming out as little more than a whisper.

He didn't head her, didn't hear her. His hand continued its quest down her chest and down the valley between her breasts, coming to rest over her heart.

"I can feel you."

She was frozen, physically, mentally, emotionally... she didn't have enough energy for anything else. His hand drifted down again, no longer touching her, and across to take her hand, bringing it up, examining it like he had with his own. Gently he traced the back of his three claws over her five, delicate fingers.

"You are human." A simple statement. He looked up at her face again, reaching up to trace her mouth. "Your lips are blue."

She just stood there, didn't say anything and couldn't move while he still held her. He was frowning now, his hand cupped the side of her face then round to pull her hair loose from the ponytail that she slept in. His claws ran gently through the errant strands, releasing his grip on the back of her head as he smoothed it down over her neck, her ears, the sides of her face. His hands left her face to alight on her shoulders, down her arms and back up again. His eyes studded her closely, actually _seeing_ her now, a new energy behind every movement.

"Come." He began to back away leaving her feeling more exposed, still facing her, eyes following her intently now. Slowly she took one halting step towards him, then another. "That's it, come to me." Slowly, painfully she followed him, but she was so cold, she just wanted to rest now, to curl up and be warm. She stumbled. Instantly he was at her side again his hand under her arm, supporting her. "Keep moving." He wouldn't let her stop, as soon as her feet were under her again they were walking, him urging her along with words and gestures. Every time she stumbled he would pull her back up, not giving her time to stop for breath.

He was still watching her, even as he guided her through the wild, the barest glance ahead and he knew the path, never faltering, never stumbling.

"Brianne listen to me, you must keep up, you must keep moving." He was urging them faster, her feet could barely keep up, they felt like they were made of lead.

She fell, her foot catching on a root. As always he caught her but when he tried to make her walk again she fell against him, it hurt to move.

"T-tired." She breathed.

"No!" The force in his voice shocked her out of her stupor for a moment, was he angry? About what? "You are not tired, Brianne, you can not sleep here. You will keep moving and I will take you to where it is warm, understand?" She nodded where she leaned against his cold chest... everything was cold.

He straitened her up again and she tried to help, tried to make her legs work but it hurt so. He guided her forward again, keeping her close, almost carrying her. It didn't last. When her feet gave way again, she just couldn't get them to work, like invisible chains were tying them down so she couldn't lift them.

Raziel let out a low curse as her world spun for a second as he lifted he into his arms and took off the way they were headed at a full run.

Shadowy trees flashed by in a heart beat, ducking under branches, jumping over bushes, hedges, logs, ditches. All of it whipped by before she could fully recognize what they were.

Faster and faster, it didn't seem possible that something on only two legs could move like this.

The trees grew dense now and he held her close, ducking and weaving between gnarled wood, whip like twigs snapped at them as they flew past. For a moment she felt like he could fly again as he leapt high into the canopy when the undergrowth became too thick for even him to navigate. From branch to branch in split second decisions that unerringly led him to the strongest foot holds or, if non presented itself, he would cling to the tree trunks themselves holding her one handed just long enough to move to the next perch. All the while he watched the ground below, waiting for it to clear. Lose bark pulled free under his talons pattered on the ground beneath them but she never heard it, for they were already gone.

She lurched against him slightly as he hit the ground again, fast as ever, the trees thinning out ahead. She looked up at him, at what little of his face that she could see from this angle, his eyes were narrowed, determined and she wondered why. Suddenly the world opened up around them as he exploded from the forest and on to open ground. They were in the paddock now, to the south, she remembered, lights visible ahead, faint and flickering behind the gardens. It was all blurred to her, everything was bleeding into everything else, so dark, so cold, so tired. The lights, the yellow lights, steady, warm and the blue lights, flickering and flashing, dark, bright, dark, bright. Like the stars, she thought, and the spaces between them. They were still above them, the stars, bright, shining and distant. She thought they were beautiful. The trees darkened her view of them again, bare branches and their old leaves moving over head so fast she could still count the stars between them but it was not the same. She was numb now, pleasantly so. It was still cold she knew, but she didn't care, she just wanted to sleep and be warm. Ahead the lights grew brighter, the sounds of people and life were able to reach them now, but she didn't notice, the darkness surrounding her, a cocoon to sleep in.

Her eyes drifted shut and all she knew was darkness. Darkness and cold...

* * *

TBC

* * *

...You know, I think this is my favorite chapter yet, typical that the one I would like the most is the one where my main character would find herself in trouble like this... As for the hypothermia bit, to be honest I don't know how long it would take for it to get that serious, my reasoning is that 1.She hasn't had her full quota of sleep over the last 48 hours 2.She is stressed out with everything that is going on 3.It would have been cold in the basement too but because the air would have been still down there she wouldn't have been noticing it as much 4.She is basically wearing her pajamas and a tracksuit, for someone who doesn't like to go out too much when it is chilly outside (which is most people) that is not very good defense against the cold. Hope it works and doesn't seem too out of place.

The next update or two is going to be late, possibly very late because I have some collage work that will be taking up a lot of my time. Sorry 'bout that but look on the bright side, once that is out the wayI will be able to devote even more time to this.

Till next time...


	7. Seen and unseen

They Wouldn't Believe You

Disclaimer: I don't own it, end of story... But not this story thankfully, It would never leave me alone if I tried to abandon it. Lol

AN: I'm so, so, so, so sorry that this took so long. After I put it aside because of my collage work (which took longer than I planned anyway) my writing was a lot harder to get back into than I had thought it would be. Hopefully the next one wont be anywhere near as late as this one now that I'm back in the swing of things.

A huge thanks to my Beta, **Ananke Adrasteia**, who has been a big help in trying to get me to fix my grammar... I just hope she realises what a lost cause I am lol... I'm joking, I'm joking! Writing this fanfic has done wonders for my spelling, don't see why it cant help my grammar too :)

Now if only my English teachers had managed to get me this motivated in school...

And last but certainly not least, to my reviewers, a huge THANK YOU! You have been a big encouragement. And don't panic guys and gals! The story for this, as it exists in my head, is huge. It has been bouncing around my brain for months and months now, and now I have started to write it down I don't plan on stopping, not yet at least!

Chapter 7: Seen and Unseen

She was drifting, warm and comfy as white lights flashed ahead, the feeling of movement threading its way through her consciousness as voices filtered through to her sleepy mind, pulling her to the surface.

"What happened to her?"

"Mild hypothermia, at least on the face of it. Some signs of exhaustion too."

"Hypothermia? In this weather?"

_Hypothermia? Ah, yes. I was feeling cold wasn't I? Didn't think I was quite that cold...am I in hospital?_

"Apparently. Though she isn't exactly dressed for it: no coat, no hat - and there is a bite to the air tonight, about four points below freezing last I heard. They said she had collapsed outside - someone called for help and when they went to investigate, they found her unconscious."

"Who called for help if she was unconscious?"

"They don't know. It was a male voice but whoever it was, wasn't there when they reached her."

"A male voice...?"

_...Raziel... he really saved my life didn't he? I wonder where he is?_

"She had no signs of abuse but her sleeve was ripped, she had a few scratches and her left shoulder showed some signs of bruising. The rip and scratches were probably down to the bramble thorns found caught on her clothes but the bruising is more likely to have been caused by a bad fall or a similar strain."

"This was at old Annabel's place right? What the hell was she doing outside?"

"They don't know. The police will want to question her as soon as she wakes up."

_... Oh bugger...

* * *

_

_The sun shone bright and clear in a way that only really happened in dreams. She was warm now, she was glad to observe; the cold had a nasty habit of making itself known in dreams - so in that respect, she knew she was safe. She was sitting under a tree, old and twisted but beautiful as very old trees could be. The tree lay in a clearing in a very slight hollow in the land, lush forest lay all around_, _green and very much alive_. _Opposite the tree__ a rock was jutting out of the ground, sloping, so that one end was taller than her - but you could walk up there from the other end. The rock was side on from the tree so she could see both the tall end and the end that disappeared into the ground._ _On the highest point sat a man in his mid- to late twenties, thin and willowy, like Brianne.__ His long, brown hair that sported a very slight curl was swept back in a fairly loose ponytail that just brushed his shoulder blades._

_Brianne smiled "Its been a while."_

_The man turned to look at her, smiling back. "I suppose it has, although -" he said as he stood up and made his way to the edge of the rock, "- that really is a matter of perspective." His eyes were brilliant green, just as she remembered, his nose slightly crooked but only a little, his smile as warm as ever. He jumped down, then mock-bowed before holding his arms out to her. Grinning, she ran the short space between them to be pulled into a huge hug._

"_Hay, dad," she said into his shoulder. A few loose strands of his hair tickled her nose._

"_Hay," he murmured back._

"_Missed you."_

"_I know." He pulled back, letting her go to lean against the rock. was still smiling faintly, but had grown more serious. "I hear you have been getting into some..._ interesting_ situations lately."_

"_Well, kinda," she muttered, moving to lean against the rock next to him, side by side. _

"_Kinda? Is the sea kinda wet?"_

"_No." She grinned despite herself, but then turned serious. "Things have gone completely off the wall dad, I don't know what to do."_

"_You want to talk about it?" I wasn't a question, not really. He already knew._

"_People are dying," she choked out, her fears, regret and guilt bubbling to the surface. "People are dying, innocent people, because they killed them and I was the one who called them. It's my fault, I did this, it's- I -" She couldn't stop herself. The first tears had fallen before she could catch them._

_He turned back to face her, pulling her close again, "Hush." He held her, letting her cry what tears needed to be shed_, _offering support and comfort_ _while she recovered. "You can't change that they are here, no one can, but" he stepped back to look her in the eyes, "you can't back out of this, you must stay with them. Even when things get so difficult that you can't think of another way but to leave, you must stand by them."_

"_What?" She hadn't expected that. "Why? They are dangerous!"_

"_Yes, they are, but you must have a little trust in them, there is a lot going on here, a lot at stake."_

"_But what? What's happening?_ _Dad?"_

"_I'm sorry Brianne, truly sorry, but it is not my place to say."_

"_Why not? I don't understand."_

"_You will, soon enough. Take care, Bree, I have faith in you."_

"Dad?"

"No," said a voice to her side she felt was quite out of place in the wood. "it's just me dear, you were dreaming."

"What?" She blinked, confused for a moment. A white ceiling loomed above her; everything smelled of cleaning fluid. She was lying in a bed in a small room - by herself, surprisingly enough. A few machines lined the wall next to her bed. A small TV was set on the wall at the end of the bed; next to it there was a clock which read 10:56. Light was streaming in through the slats in the blinds at the window. Annabel was sat next to her on her left, between her and the door, folding up a magazine and setting it on the table next to her. "I'm in hospital, right?"

"Yes, the one in the village, nothing major. It's just for a little while, I imagine, just so that we are sure you're alright."

"Am I?"

Annabel smiled warmly at her. "Yes, I don't see why not."

"That's good, I suppose." She remembered what she had heard before the dream, "Are the police going to want to talk to me?"

"Yes." The smile faded.

"Oh."

"Do you know what you are going to say to them?"

"No idea."

"Hmm, I suggest that you think about that," Annabel shrugged, "we can hardly tell them the truth."

"No, they wouldn't believe us if we did."

"If anything, we would be earning ourselves a one way trip to a psychiatrist." Annabel laughed at her own joke, even though what she said was probably true. She glanced up at the clock and got up to turn on the TV. It was just the finale of another decorating show. Annabel ignored it and sat back down. Turning back to Brianne, she asked what had happened last night after they had been separated.

Hesitantly at first, Brianne slowly began to fill her in on everything that had happened, from the moment Raziel had switched his attention to her to her last memory of him carrying her back towards Annabel's home. "But what about you? And Kain? Where did he go?"

Sighing, Annabel was quiet for a moment before she began to speak. "I'm no expert in the - shall we say: _needs_?- of a creature such as him. However, from what I could tell he hadn't been feeding anywhere near what he is accustomed to - and Raziel, well, you saw what he was like. Between the hunger and the fight, he had been pushed too far. It was just as well Raziel's focus switched when it did." She was silent again, gathering her thoughts. On the TV, the home improvement show had just ended; the last of the credits were just fading. "As he led me away, he told me not to fear for your safety, but he warned me that I must not interfere - that while Raziel may not be a danger to you, he was still a danger to me."

"How would he know that?" And why would he care?

"I don't know. He seemed confident in his prediction though. Once he had led me closer to the house, close enough to see the lights again, he just stopped and I thought he was going to collapse." Brianne was sitting up in the bed, listening with bated breath. Annabel had gone very pale. "His, eyes... oh Brianne, I have never seen anything like it, even in nightmares..." She fixed her haunted gaze on Brianne. "He looked wild, his injuries weren't healing, like they had before, they weren't even bleeding. What- whatever self-control he possesses must be phenomenal. Brianne, I may not know much about vampires like him, but even I know my fair share of vampire legends. It was the Hunger, I - I know it was, his eyes-" She stopped herself, swallowing, calming remembered panic. When she continued, her voice was cold, empty even, "He asked me where the closest settlement was." On the TV, the opening sequence for the countrywide news started to play. "I knew what he wanted, needed, but I didn't want to tell him, even then... of course not."

On the screen, the presenter was talking, _"-update to last nights horrifying event-_"

"But he said that either I told him what he wanted to know, or he would go back to my home and take what he needed there-"

"_-following the murder at a country manor in the heart of the peaceful-"_

"-What was I to do? Give him my friends and family?-"

"_- police have identified the bodies of three individuals -"_

"If I had lied, he would have just found his way back, he swore that he would and I believed him-"

"_- no eyewitnesses, but CCTV has confirmed that this is the work of a single individual-"_

"So I told him. Told him which way, even how far-"

"_-None of the victims survived-" _

"His body seemed to collapse into itself. I couldn't see much in the dark of course, but it was like watching the earth fracture and break apart, lines appearing over his skin and sinking deeper and deeper-"

"_-police have called in reinforcements to help catch the perpetrator. Surrounding counties are on the alert-"_

"- Then he just... fell apart, I can't think how else to describe it."

"Bat form."

"Yes, yes that's what it was."

"_- authorities are asking all residents to be vigilant, do not go out unless necessary and do not go out alone, whoever is responsible for this atrocious act of murder-"_

"Atrocious act of murder?" A familiar male voice spoke from next to the door, the sardonic tones cutting through the tense atmosphere like a blade. "Do humans always have to be so flowery in their terms? Well, I suppose it depends on your perspective."

Both women jumped; neither had known he had been there. He looked to be in his mid- to late thirties, fairly tall, had with straight brown hair that just brushed his shoulders. His face was sharp - handsome, if a little cold at first glance. His clothes were average, but smart; long black jacket, possibly a fine wool, over a very deep red polo-neck. His trousers almost looked like black denim but a second look made Brianne think otherwise, yet she couldn't put her finger on what exactly it was.

"_- the families of the victims are still being traced. If you have any information, contact the hotline-"_

He strode, no, _stalked_ over to the TV and ran his fingers over the front until he reached the power button and turned it off.

"W-who are you, sir? And what are you doing in here?" Annabel said, standing up.

"Oh, don't you recognize me?" He said with feigned hurt. "Brianne?"

"No, I don't-" She started, but then his eyes flashed yellow suddenly. "Kain!"

The man's amused chuckle could only have been that of Nosgoth's Scion of Balance. "Glad to see you are well; it would have been _unfortunate_ for you to have fallen ill." Brianne didn't have the courage for a witty or sarcastic reply. Kain's amusement faded instantly. "I saw that - news broadcast. The people of your world are far more perceptive that I had imagined. I will not make the same mistake twice - but that does not change how things have played out thus far." He turned to look out between the slats of the window. "We will have to be careful."

"A bit late for that," Annabel snapped, although it seemed slightly forced.

Kain didn't even glance at her. "You think to lecture me? Old as you are, you are still but a child to me; you have no right nor experience or grounds for comparison. Speak to me in that tone again and you might not _speak_ again."

The silence that followed was tense and deafening as Annabel sank slowly to her seat, shaking.

Brianne was feeling as shaken as Annabel looked. Between the news bulletin and Kain threatening Annabel - not to mention having to confront the police later - this really was not shaping up to be a good day.

"Where is Raziel?" She said it before she had the chance to think about it.

Kain took longer than he should have in answering, his expression distant, even troubled. "I don't know."

"Oh. Is there-"

"You don't understand." He interrupted her. "I have always _known_ where he is, I could feel him, even as a wraith - although it was distant then." Brianne watched him quizzically; there was something odd about the way he was talking, as if he was somewhere else entirely, lost in a memory perhaps. "But since we came to this world... nothing. Even in the abyss I could still feel _something_; this absence is almost disturbing... but perhaps..." He blinked, shaking off whatever had been distracting him. "Anyway, with Raziel in his current state, the authorities on the alert and with no obvious way to track him, this could easily get worse before it gets better."

* * *

It was almost half an hour before the nurse came to check up on her, asking Annabel and Kain, who still looked human, to leave. Annabel, who hadn't spoken at all since Kain's threat, left with only a fleeting backwards glance at Brianne; Kain didn't move. When the nurse tried to ask him to leave a second time, Kain stared at him, his expression completely bland, giving nothing away. The nurse faltered, a tremor visible even to Brianne running through him. His eyes turned glassy for a moment before he turned back to Brianne and continued with his work as though Kain simply did not exist. 

He asked some basic questions, took some readings from a couple of the machines; in no time at all he was giving her the all clear and retreating from the room. As he left, Brianne could hear hushed voices outside the room. Just as two uniformed officers were about to enter Kain strode up to the door, blocking them. He stepped outside, making them back down and as the door swung shut behind him Brianne heard... nothing.

Less than thirty seconds passed before he came back into the room looking, well, bored. "At least the human authorities of my world were trained in psychic resistance," he muttered.

"What did you do?"

"I made certain they wouldn't bother you," he said plainly, making it clear that he would speak no more on the subject.

"So... Now what?"

His pointed expression was recognizable even on a human face, not to mention his sarcasm. "Well - Might I suggest you get dressed first? After that, I think attempting to find Raziel would be wise." He stood right next to the window, his features shifting into their accustomed mask of indifference as he gazed between the slats at the world beyond.

"Um, right." Some of her warmer clothes were in a neat pile next to the bed, probably brought by Annabel or one of her friends; the clothes she had on last night were in a bag next to them. She glanced back up at Kain, uncertain and uncomfortable.

In a flat tone he said without taking his eyes off the window, "I'm not going anywhere, so get dressed."

_Fine, I'll just be quick about it then..._

She grabbed her clothes, and would have attempted to put them on under the sheets - but a somewhat distasteful glance from Kain made her suck it up and get dressed as normal, even if she did so with a slight blush on her cheeks.

* * *

As it turned out, they were able to simply walk out of the hospital, after a quick stop at reception to say that they were going. It felt too easy and Brianne suspected that had something to do with Kain. No one sent suspicious looks their way, no one seemed to find anything of curiosity about them at all. There was one moment when Brianne suddenly thought that their luck was out when one of the women working at the office called out to them just as they had gotten outside the hospital. In the end it turned out to be nothing more worrisome than a note from Annabel; she had already got the taxi home and paid in advance for one to take Brianne back so that she could collect her stuff. Kain approved of the idea of going back to Annabel's home, as it was their best bet for finding Raziel. 

The taxi had already been called and was waiting in the car park. The driver sent a questioning look at Kain, obviously not expecting him, but quickly shrugged it off... it was as though Kain's very presence seemed to make people more docile.

The drive back was tense for Brianne; the things that had happened after she had woken up had set her on edge, again. Kain sat next to her in the back of the taxi, his face turned towards the window. His currently mid-length brown hair hid most of his face from her, but even from this angle he seemed surprisingly undisturbed by the notion of cars, or even the speed they were able to travel.

No one said a word the whole way back.

* * *

Kain was out of the taxi as soon as it pulled up on the drive and Brianne let out the smallest sigh of relief at not being forced to sit so close to him anymore. She got out, thanking the driver as he cut the engine, to wait for someone it seemed, and looked over the house and the police car still parked next to it. It was slightly overcast today, unlike the very clear skies of the last two days... _Dear Lord,__ has it really been only two days?_

Suddenly remembering herself, she looked back toward where Kain was. She blinked, frantically scanning the grounds around her, but no - Kain had vanished.

"Brianne?"

Spinning back to face the main door, she saw Annabel who had gotten changed since she last saw her this morning and was looking better. Doing a double take, she also saw the uniformed constable who stood next to said door. _How the hell did I miss him? Did he see Kain? No, he can't__ have seen anything unusual, or he would have reacted._

"I'm back."

"So I see. Come on - you can't stay here. Just grab your things and go. Even I am getting a room at a bed and breakfast for a while."

Annabel led her up to her room herself. "You realise they have been through your things, don't you?" Brianne didn't say anything; she just hoped the altered games wouldn't cause more trouble by getting her done for forgery or something along those lines.

When they got to her room, it was obvious that it had been gone over with a fine toothed comb; nothing had been left untouched. Her bags were on the bed, the contents scattered next to them.

Annabel sat down on the second bed. Brianne had barely begun to sort through her things when her old friend asked, "Where is Kain?"

"I don't know. Here, somewhere."

"Here? He came back here?"

"He's trying to find Raziel."

"So we have lost them both now."

"They will find us, if they want to."

"That's what I'm worried about."

Brianne said nothing after that.

* * *

It didn't take too long to gather all her things - she hadn't brought much to begin with. The two women were walking down the stairs, bags in toe, passing an officer as they went, when Annabel spoke up again for the first time since she had asked about Kain. 

"There is someone who wants to talk to you. She had been asking for you since I got back."

"Who?"

Annabel waited until the officer was out of ear shot before she said calmly, "Sesdoras."

"The shadow!" Brianne hissed.

Annabel motioned for her to stay calm and quiet. "She's not dangerous, tricky yes, but not dangerous."

"Tell that to Raziel!"

"She has spoken to me about that. I would tell you myself but she wants to speak to you personally."

"Why would she speak to me? She didn't even acknowledge my existence last time."

"To be fair on her, she was distracted then."

"I suppose, but still..."

"Brianne, trust me, you will want to hear this. Make your way back to the entrance at the stream. Try not to be seen, the police are crawling all over the grounds at the moment. Sesdoras has promised to help you get there but she can't do all the work for you."

"Annabel-"

"Just do it, Brianne! You _need_ to hear this." Brianne flinched back slightly - Annabel had never snapped at her before. Taking her arm, Annabel led her back outside to the parked taxi. Letting her go, Annabel leaned down to talk to the driver; Brianne didn't hear what was said, though it seemed they knew each other.

Turning back to her, Annabel said, "He will take you up the road and drop you off in the woods. It's a bit further to walk but easier to hide." She opened the door for her and Brianne climbed in.

"Annabel?" She asked after the door was shut, winding the window down as the driver started the engine.

"Yes?"

There was something she had been wondering ever since last night... "Sesdoras."

"What about her?"

"Well, how do you know she's a she?"

"Oh, isn't it obvious?"

"No."

"Oh. Well, she just is." It was as though Brianne had just questioned the colour of the sky.

"Okay..."

"Trust me." Annabel almost sounded scandalised.

"If you say so."

"I do." Annabel smiled despite the earlier seriousness. "Be careful Brianne."

"You too." They paused then, there was something in the air between them. Brianne couldn't put her finger on it, but she didn't like it. "Annabel?"

"Brianne, I'm sorry but I have to ask you to stay away from here from now on." She held up her hand to forestall anything Brianne might have said. "It's just - just too much. I am sorry, but after everything that has happened... I'm old, Brianne, and even in my younger days I couldn't have kept up. I need to ask - no, I'm telling you - speak with Sesdoras, find Kain and Raziel, then leave, don't come back and don't ask for anything else until they are gone. Do you understand?"

Yes, she understood, understood perfectly. After last night, after the hospital, she probably would have done the same thing in her place. It still stung though. She nodded mutely.

"That doesn't change what I said earlier, I want you to take care. Tell me you will do that."

"Yes." Short and simple. She just couldn't seem to manage anything else.

Annabel sighed, she didn't press further. Stepping back she signalled the driver who began to pull away from the old house.

Twisting around in her seat, Brianne watched until the house and her friend disappeared from view.

* * *

In the end, it wasn't far at all; up the drive, round the bend, down a slope, then along a short dirt track. The taxi pulled away and drove off as soon as she got out. 

Looking through the woods around her, it was easy to see what Annabel had meant; the woods were so dense that it would be easy to hide. The downside of this was that scrambling through the undergrowth was far from easy and slow going. Still, anything was better than the night-time escape of barely twelve hours ago; at least now she could see where she was going.

_Over here._

Brianne jumped and stumbled at the voice... like an echo on the wind, heard but so distant yet so close...

_Here, turn left._

"Sesdoras?"

_Hush, this way._

Ok, following strange voices in the middle of the wood did rank up there with taking candy from strangers - but what choice did she have? Annabel had said that Sesdoras would help keep her hidden, was this the help she had meant?

She turned left.

It wasn't long until she heard the snap of wood breaking to her right. She ducked down on instinct, hiding among the twisting plants and partly frozen autumn leaves. The steps, human steps, continued past without paying her any attention whatsoever. She waited until they had faded away completely before re-emerging from her hiding place.

Slowly and cautiously, she continued picking her way between the trees, guided occasionally by the mysterious voice on the wind. She quickly lost all sense of direction. She didn't encounter any more people and it was with the dual feeling of relief followed quickly by apprehension that she approached the sound of running water.

She was a little downstream of the hidden door and could only just see the tail end of the rocks between the trees up ahead. Clambering over fallen logs and trying to stop herself slipping into the cold water - or the equally cold, but much more messy mud - she wondered how the hell things would play out after she found Kain and Raziel again. They could always go on the run like in the movies... Although that might be hampered a bit if Raziel couldn't stand being around Kain, or if having the two of them in close proximity would cause him to go off the rails again. Yet Raziel had seemed to pull out of it a little the other night when the cold had gotten to her. Maybe if she could talk to him...

She laughed aloud at that. She might as well take him to one of those group talks. Oh, or better yet, a chat show - _'Being imprisoned in a vampire blade messed with my mind'_... yeah, that would be the day... Hmm - not to mention: _My father damned me to an eternity of torture._ That'd sell even better. She smiled grimly.

Joking aside, how was anyone supposed to even come close to understanding what he had been through, or how to help him? Those games had only just scratched the surface, barely a glimpse into their lives and she wasn't sure she wanted to look any deeper. In fact, the very notion made her blood run cold; ignorance, as they say, is bliss.

Finally her feet touched solid stone, dirt and moss covered as it was. From there, it was easy to step, jump and hop from rock to rock further up the stream towards the door. As it slowly came into view, she had to wonder why it hadn't been found yet, why the police weren't all over it. The door was wide open, a gaping black hole in the side of the bank.

Slowly and cautiously she edged closer to it.

_In here._

"Yeah, I kinda figured."

Having the door wide open had left it exposed to the spray from the stream; she almost slipped on the damp stone that had been swept clean by the force with which the door had been opened. Ducking into the narrow corridor, she had to pause as her own shadow smothered the light from outside and she had to let her eyes adjust.

Even here, the signs of recent and vicious battle were evident. Loose stone, claw marks... blood, a lot of blood, both deep, dark red and brilliant turquoise. Such loss would be of little problem for Raziel; if he lost too much energy then a quick trip to the spectral realm would see him restored. Kain on the other hand... She tried not to think about the news earlier; if she was going to do anything worthwhile in all of this, she would have to try to stop herself dwelling on that; unless some otherworldly miracle suddenly turned them both human, those deaths would almost certainly keep on happening until they leave. Fixating on that could get her killed, and possibly make it worse for others, too.

She edged her way towards the stairs. With no torch to light, the way they seemed even steeper and more treacherous then before. Sinking down onto her backside, she slowly made her way down, one hand on the wall, one hand on the floor. Even so, she nearly slipped halfway down when her foot landed in something slick, her hands scrabbling on the ground for purchase as she thumped heavily down three steps, tearing her skin. Hissing at the burning sting, she edged sideways to press herself against the wall, peering at the offending dampness in the dim light filtering in from above. Again more blood, more blue blood - and a lot of it, at that. Ironic, had she been less cautious she could have easily have fallen and met her death on the cold stone here; and after Raziel, owner of the blood that now stained those steps, had saved her life the night before.

Eventually, she did reach the bottom without further incident; but it was almost complete darkness that she was faced with when she got there.

"Sesdoras?"

_I'm here._

"I probably should have asked you before, but why call me all the way down here? I could hear you outside too."

_I am shadow. My domain is darkness, not light._

"Right. Of course. And why...?"

_Your friends do not belong._

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know. Speaking of which, why can't I hear you properly?"

_Your friends do not belong. This world was never meant for them. Yet they are here._

"What are you saying?" Not that the shadow had answered her question but still...

_They have much power - more than I have seen for a long time. Yet it is a power that does not flow, it is fixed like steel and ice and chains and knives... They can not be changed, so this world must change for them._

Brianne felt a sinking in her stomach... this could not be good.

_You have already seen it. Twice. Once, when you first discovered them, when the windows to their world were twisted and distorted by the reality of their presence. _

... The games...

_And in these very caverns, when the wraith and I clashed, you saw the effect of their presence on this world then._

Something in all this clicked. "You. They changed you. That's why I can't hear you properly now."

_Yes. I am not flesh, I am not bone. I am shadow. The reality of their world would not allow me to exist like this, not in this form. They carry that reality with them. It would not allow for me, so it changed me in their presence._

Oh god... she really had unlocked Pandora's box, hadn't she? Unlocked it, thrown off the lid and scattered the contents on the floor for all to see.

"They're changing reality around them."

_Yes..._

"Do- do they know?"

_Only that which is pointed out to them. They do not control it. It is part of them._

"And, what else are they affecting? You, the games..."

_Everything._

"Wh-what?"

_Everything, anything, anyone. All things within their sphere._

"Me too?"

_All things, you included. Some things are more subtle. Their reality allows for humanity, some thing will not be obvious, not yet._

"_Yet_? This is going to get worse?" Something in the darkness shifted, shadows began flickering, just beyond her sight, but still strangely visible.

_Their power, their reality, it flows from them like blood from a wound. The vampire, he has more power, much more, but his is more self-contained, it leaks from him, a slow drip and a shallow cut. But the wraith... it flows from him, like the gushing from a torn throat._

Brianne cringed at the metaphor but a dark part of her mind had to admit that so far as Raziel was concerned, it was fitting. The shadows were flowing around her, thickening, congealing like the blood the shadow spoke of.

_And like blood, their power, their reality pools in this world, festering, a growing bloody trail in their wake._

Before her in the corridor, Brianne was just starting to make out a shape in the black, crouched close to the ground.

_I am not the only spirit to prowl this world of ours and many of them will feel the presence of your friends like I have as will those humans who, like my hostess, can ssee and feel that which hidess beyond sssight."_

Hang on a second... "Sesdoras?"

There was definitely a figure in front of her now, crouched low in the dark with too many limbs, just a silhouette surrounded by yet more black.

"_I warn you now child, ass a friend of a friend, the power of your guestss _iss ssspreading, the ripplesss of their pressence iss already being felt on many levelsss. It hass already begun."

The figure before her now was unmistakable, no matter how difficult to see.

"Beware, sssome will not wait for you to sstumble acrosss them, ssome will come to you. They have been noticed."

The shadow before her retreated, falling back into the dark until it was as though she never was. Alone in the black, Brianne wondered if she would ever know normality again.

The slightest scrape of claws on stone was all the warning she got as the meagre light coming from above was shadowed.

"Brianne."

She whirled around as well as she could to see Kain, in all his vampiric glory, towering above her in the stairwell, the light behind him catching his hair in a parody of a halo.

"You found him?"

He inclined his head slightly; with the light at his back, she could not see his face. He withdrew from the stairs, making his way back outside. "Come."

Did she even have a choice?

* * *

TBC 


	8. Echos in the Soul

They Wouldn't Believe You

Disclamer: Not mine, not mine, not mine! They are not mine I tell you, they are not! La, la, la, I cant hear you! ... Not mine!

EN: I'm so sorry for the HUGE delay - I hit a monstrous bout of writers block in the middle of this chapter and along with a lot of rl problems all things creative of mine just ground to a screeching halt - my writing, my art, I even stopped going to my roleplay group for a couple of weeks. Then about a week ago I finally overcame my writers block (and then some) and finished the last half of this chapter in about a tenth of the time it took to finish the first half...

An enormous THANK YOU to all my readers and reviewers and the one and only Ananke Adrasteia who has been very supportive in our email sessions. Thanks!

Warning: This fic does have some darker elements, though I am going for a more sinister feel then out right gore (not that there wont be a lot of that at some point - this is Kain and Raziel we are dealing with here) I even managed to creep myself out a little bit writing this chapter. lol

* * *

Chapter 8: Echos in the soul

As she emerged from the tunnel, Brianne squinted in the relative glare outside. Kain was already on the other side of the stream, clearly impatient to reach Raziel again and frustrated by the amount of time it had taken for her to find her way out. Distractedly she noticed that the long tear down his left thigh had been roughly tacked together again, with what looked like leather strips - the wound itself, the worst he had received in the fight with Raziel, was perfectly healed. Gathering her bearings as fast as she could she began to make her way over the rocks. Midway across she hesitated, the gap between the rock she was standing on and the next one being too far for her to be confidant that she could make it. The distance was bad enough on its own; that the rocks were both wet and slippery as well tipped the balance against her enough to halt her in her tracks.

Suddenly, a strange and uncomfortable pressure latched on to her torso. It was as though the air around her had decided to change state, bypassing the intermediate liquid phase and jumping straight to solid. Crying out in shock as the pressure tightened slightly, she was lifted right up into the air, held there for a heartbeat and then sent hurtling forward.

Stone like arms snatched her in mid air; the body attached to said arms span them round, absorbing some of her forward momentum and taking most of the force out of the collision. She held onto Kain as he supported her, allowing her a few seconds to find her feet again.

Blinking up at him she said, breathlessly, "So that's what it felt like for those Sarafan at that Keep."

"Sarafan?" Kain smirked, cruelly, "Oh no, child. With them, I assure you, it_ hurt_."

Brianne could actually feel herself go pale. She stumbled when he abruptly let her go and turned to stride swiftly and confidently into the depths of the wood. She stared after him for a moment in stunned silence before she mentally kicked herself into gear and forced herself to stagger after him, thankful that, at least on the face of it, they were on the same team. She pushed back that little voice in her head that warned her that Kain was never truly apart of any team, ever.

He set a brisk pace through the wood and Brianne was only just able to keep up. She suspected that, were it not for her, he would have been moving full tilt towards his goal, towards Raziel. He probably had good reason to be anxious; Raziel could move very fast when it suited him, even faster than Kain - and as a wraith he could vanish without a trace in a heartbeat. So it was with a mix of embarrassment, frustration and more than a little fear, that Brianne found herself the cause of yet another delay as her foot caught on something immovable in the undergrowth. Letting loose a curse, she cringed as Kain's imposing form towered over her. His claws latched onto her clothes, hauling her to her feet again.

"Watch your step," he growled.

He set her loose again and was back on his path without glancing back.

Brianne was almost running to keep up with him now - she just hoped that it was not much further as she was already in danger of getting a stitch.

Ducking and weaving amongst the trees, she had to admire how easy he made all this seem, completely effortless. She looked about as ungainly as a lame duck in comparison.

Finally, as the trees opened out into green fields up ahead, he slowed his pace and Brianne was able to catch up with him at last.

Just before the edge of the trees he stopped, beckoning her to him.

"There."

Leaning close, she peered out amounts the branches. Before her was a large, lush green field that sloped gently down away from the tree line towards the hedge that separated it from the road that lead down towards the village. Beyond that was another field that ended in a thick line of trees that hid the same stream that they had left earlier as it wound its way towards the river. Her eyes scanned the sweeping tree line, searching for her missing guest.

She gasped, "Oh my..."

There, sat at the edge of field, some way to their right, was Raziel.

It astonished her just how _visible_ he was; the vivid blue of his flesh stood out against the greens, browns and golds of autumn that surrounded him. Were anyone to wander into one of the country paths down below, or look out from a few specific points on the road to the village next to them, they would be able to see him, clear as day. Did he not realise how exposed he was there? Did he even _care_?

Something niggled at the back of her mind - it wasn't just the sight of him like that which was bothering her so, there was something else... Brianne shook her head, trying to clear the uncomfortable buzz from the back of her mind.

She glanced back at Kain where he watched her, cool and calculating. "What are we going to do?" She whispered.

"Not we. You." At her alarmed expression he continued, "I daren't get close to him, not after last night. Until I can be certain that he has regained some presence of mind, I can not risk it."

"He's not as bad as he was - last night, he pulled himself out of it, he was himself again. Almost."

"I know," he said softly, "but is that enough?"

She honestly didn't know. Swallowing her fear as best she could, she asked, "What should I do?"

Surprisingly gentle eyes regarded her, "He will not hurt you."

A faint smile flashed across her face, "So I have been told."

"Annabel." He sounded almost stern.

Alarm flooded her for a moment, fear that she might have landed her friend in more trouble tightened her chest until he waved away her fears.

"Just be there for him." He continued, looking back out into the field. "Raziel has always been sociable - loneliness has never sat well with him."

_And just how lonely must he be feeling now? Since his execution?_

Nodding dimly, she turned to make her way amongst the trees towards Raziel, when Kain caught her arm again.

"Let him see you coming, give him time."

"Oh, right."

Into the field it was then. As she pushed through the denser foliage next to the wooden fence that separated the field from the trees, she wondered again what on earth she would do - what she was doing, even. What could she say? _Are you ok?_ That would just be a really _stupid_ question. _Do you want to talk about it?_ Again, a dumb question - if he felt like talking then he would talk, if not then there wasn't a damn thing she could do to change that.

She clambered over the fence and into the open field, keeping an eye on Raziel in case he decided he didn't want any company and just left. He didn't move, not so much as an inch as far as she could see from this distance. Of course, it could be that he hadn't seen her yet. That was unlikely, considering that one didn't survive for a thousand years as a vampire, in a hostile world, without being very perceptive of everything around you... But Raziel still wasn't in his right mind; otherwise he wouldn't be sitting at the edge of a field in broad daylight where all and sundry could stroll along and see him.

She headed further into the field where he had a better chance of spotting her, on the very slim chance that he hadn't already. Following the line of the edge of field she slowly made her way closer to him, watching him like a hawk.

He sat hunched over, his legs drawn up close to his body and his arms folded over his knees. His tattered and broken wings drooped down his sides, almost hiding the gaping loss of his midriff - save for when the wind stirred them.

"Raziel?" she called, cautiously, as she got closer. He gave no sign of having heard her.

She stopped just outside of his range should he lash out at her... or, at least she hoped she would be out of range. She knew Kain was watching all of this, and she hoped that he would intervene if things got nasty.

"Raziel?" she tried again. He did look at her then, briefly, before looking back at the horizon - or possibly empty space, she couldn't tell.

An impasse. Now, how to talk to him without asking any of those ridiculously silly questions? She might as well talk to him about the weather! She couldn't think, didn't know what to say, how to start -

"It's beautiful here." He said, quietly.

"Er, I - I guess." _Fine._ That was unexpected... she really needed to stop placing _any_ expectations on him, or Kain for that matter. Taking advantage of any topic of conversation, anything to get him talking, she added, unthinking, "kinda grey at the moment."

He let out a slight breath of laughter, "No, no it's not."

"Are you-" _No, stop it, no stupid questions Bree..._

"I've been better," he said, surprising her even further. Her heart sank when he added- "Looked better too, but there is hardly anything that can be done about _that_, now is there?" He gave another breathy, strained laugh.

_Shit, don't you dare freak out on me again, Raziel, not again..._

"Sit with me." He said, still quiet - she wasn't used to hearing him like this and it worried her.

Slowly and warily she approached him, while the buzzing sensation at the back of her head got stronger and stronger. She hesitated when he held his hand out to her when she got close enough. She paused too long however, and he withdrew, looking even more downcast than before - which she had hardly thought possible. Hoping to compensate she sat a lot closer to him that she had intended to, cringing slightly at the cold, hard ground beneath her. She winced even more when her palms, grazed, sore and still slightly bloody from the tunnel steps, brushed the ground as she settled herself onto the ground. Her companionable gesture did not go unnoticed as he turned his head to look at her, relaxing slightly.

"I am glad you are well."

"Thank you."

An old jeep rattled past along the road below, flickering in and out of sight between the hedgerows.

Brianne tensed, "we can't stay here." Raziel didn't say anything. "We'll be seen," she added, incase he hadn't figured it out.

His head fell forward, his forehead resting on his arms, eyes closed.

"Raziel?"

"I have been here since well before dawn. Nobody has come before you."

Just because nobody had approached him didn't mean that no one had seen him.

He was tense again, very tense; his body wound tight as though he could snap at any moment. His hands clenched into fists, his legs and arms drawing close to his body until he was shaking.

The buzzing at the back of her head, wasn't just limited to the back of her head anymore. Her palms itched in a way that had nothing to do with the grazes that marred them. It was a feeling now, a sense of... of _something_... it frightened her, fascinated her and made her feel ever so slightly ill...

_Great, as if things weren't weird enough, now I have to go and develop some sort of freaky spider sense!_

She shook her head to try and clear that feeling again, her hands working themselves into knots in her lap as she endeavoured to focus on what was important at that moment; namely, Raziel.

"_Raziel?_" She really was worried now. Looking back the way she had come she saw Kain making has way cautiously towards them. Next to her Raziel let out a chocked cry, thin trails of blue blood seeping out between his claws where they had dug deep into his palm.

"Raziel, what's happening? What is this?"

"Last night-" He cut off, as another wave of whatever was happening to him, washed through him. Kain had stopped close by, next to the fence behind them.

"Last night," he gasped, regaining his composure slightly, "after I took you back to the mansion, I slipped into the spectral realm. I fed," again he stopped, choking on his words. He shuddered then went completely and utterly still.

Suddenly his head snapped backwards, his back ramrod straight.

As Brianne watched, horrified and confused, his eyes faded until they were almost completely black - only the barest lumination in the centre remained. He collapsed, his body completely limp. Kain darted forward, catching him before he hit the ground.

Suddenly, the buzzing that had filled Brianne's head fell quiet, a shadow compared to the bright glare that had existed before. She didn't even want to contemplate what that implied.

Kain glanced up from the motionless form in his arms and she saw the concern written in his eyes; Kain new as little as she did.

* * *

Brianne kept her eyes on Kain as she followed him through the woods as he lead them further away from Annabel's home and the police that patrolled the grounds. Raziel was a dead weight in his arms, his eyes still almost completely black in what she assumed was something akin to unconsciousness. That they were black wasn't as creepy as the fact that they were still wide open - and facing her. 

Another car - a police car - had driven past after Raziel had collapsed and with unspoken agreement they had moved back into the shelter of the woods. Brianne had no idea where they were going but Kain seemed to know and she was happy to follow his lead. He wasn't rushing them anymore, possibly because of concern for his charge.

Suddenly those dead looking eyes blazed into life and Raziel's whole body convulsed.

How Kain managed not to drop him outright was beyond her.

As Kain lowered Raziel to the ground quickly, Brianne propped herself against a nearby tree, as the unsettling 'buzzing' sensation in her head returned with a vengeance. To Brianne it felt like someone had just driven a blunt bar through her head - her senses tingled even as her head throbbed. That this new and as yet unpleasant phenomenon was tied to whatever was going on with Raziel was now irrefutable in her mind - and further motivation to figure out just what the hell was going on.

Kain did what he could to steady Raziel until, as suddenly as it had begun the convolutions stoped and he calmed and grew still.

Raziel blinked, confused and shaken looking, until his gaze fixed on Kain - he went very, very still.

Brianne knew how this could go and how they could very easily wind up back on square one, or worse. If they fought like they did before, if their hostility grew, then how could this all end? Whatever might happen, she couldn't see how any good could come of it. But how to stop it?

A distraction - "Raziel." She called to him. He didn't take his eyes off Kain, but there was something, a slight movement of his head. "Raziel, _please_, look at me." He turned his head, slightly, but like any good fighter - like any good_ predator _- he still couldn't take his eyes off the threat, off the target.

She knew she was placing her life in his questionable care but this had to stop; their last fight had cost a lot, it had cost lives - how much would another one cost? Who else would die needlessly?

Slowly she stepped up to them, pushing aside as best she could the almost painful feeling rattling around her head, and couching down she reached out to touch him. The moment her fingers, just the very tips, touched him, she felt a sharp jolt of energy spark through her skin - she would have jerked away if fear hadn't held her in an iron grip, keeping her steady. Her heart hammering in her throat, she let her fingers gently skim over his temple and around to thread through his hair, coming to rest close to his ear, gently cupping the side of his head. "Raziel," she pleaded.

Finally he relented and turned to her. The confusion and pain in his eyes was heart breaking and she was momentarily tongue-tied.

"We don't want to fight you, Raziel." Kain said now that Raziel's attention was divided. Raziel looked back at him but it didn't seem like he was about to exploded into full scale combat anymore. Brianne let her hand fall to his shoulder, hoping the continued contact might help to keep him calm - or calmer at any rate.

"How can I trust you?"

Kain smirked, "perhaps you can't. But, if I had wanted to fight you, I would be doing that now." Even with his now limited facial expression, the look Raziel sent him was obvious even to Brianne. _Arrogant bastard._ "Instead," Kain continued, "I am trying to help you. Doesn't that say enough?"

"Everything that has happened, from my vampiric resurrection, to the Reaver-"

"If I could have changed it, I would have."

Raziel's eyes narrowed; doubtful, still unable to trust. "You knew, you saw it, why couldn't you-"

"And unravel history? Even for such a price, could you have really asked that of me, had it been possible?"

Raziel looked away - yes it hurt, she could see written all over him, she didn't need to have played the game to see it. It always would be a painful for him but even he couldn't ask for history to be torn apart on his behalf - not in such a fatal manner anyway. Brianne knew it, and if she did then so would Kain. Brianne watched them both and while she wanted to stay put and offer some support to Raziel, weather it was needed or not, another part of her almost felt like she was intruding.

"I will not ask for forgiveness," Kain said, in that same tone of voice that Brianne had often heard him use in the games; clam, like a teacher. Raziel looked back up at him again, granting him his full attention, "nor would I expect it. But perhaps, a little perspective wouldn't be too much to ask?" Kain's only response was two boggle eyed stares. Brianne gave into that part of her that was telling her to back off then - if not for their sake then for hers. She crept back a few paces, giving them some space.

"Perspective!" Raziel looked ready to fly at him then - and this time Brianne couldn't blame him but something caught her eye - or rather, the look in Kain's eye caught her eye. Kain was playing with him, the amusement on his face growing when Raziel noticed it too. "You!"

Kain chuckled, "yes, _me_."

Shaking his head in exasperation Raziel aimed a swipe at Kain who deflected it easily and knocked him away. With a couple of humans this would have looked violent but with them it seemed more playful that vicious. Still chuckling Kain rose to his feet.

Raziel muttered under his breath, still fuming slightly, "perspective, indeed."

He made to stand too but hesitated when Kain offered him his hand. He accepted, cautiously, and was pulled to his feet.

Kain smiled, then seriously and sincerely he said, "welcome back, Raziel."

Brianne smiled and for a moment, everything seemed alright - but that was all it was, a moment.

A somewhat bemused looking Raziel was still clutching Kain's hand when Brianne saw him sway on his feet.

"Raziel?" Brianne took half a step forward before she reconsidered and kept her ground. A smart move it seemed when his whole body went taught and his head snapped back as it had in the field, earlier. Brianne could have sworn that she heard, faintly, something go crunch and she was willing to wager a weeks worth of her wages that it was Kain's hand. Not that he had so much as flinched in response - the pain would have to be really intense to get any major reaction from him. The only possible sign of pain that she could recognise on his face was a slight curl of his lips, revealing sharp fangs. His main response was surprise and some alarm at Raziel's relapse.

Whatever was happening to him thankfully didn't last as long as it had in the field, it must have only been a second before his body went limp again and Kain had to stop him from falling. Thankfully, not only was the duration shorter but the aftermath seemed less severe too. He didn't blank out like he did before, though he came close, his eyes flickering like the lights in a house would during a storm.

He shook his head, feebly, as though to clear it.

Kain looked at her sharply, beckoning her over with a flick of his eyes. She was quick to obey, something told her that there was no room for error here. She stepped up close to them, watching Kain incase he decided to give further instruction.

Raziel staggered slightly, still keeping a grip on Kain's hand for balance. Kain caught Brianne's eye again and there was something, something there that she did not like, not in the least... _Oh, Kain, what are you...?_

Raziel shuddered, swaying on his feet and though he were on the verge of collapse. Brianne took that final step up to him bring her hands up to his back even as Kain took hold of his other arm, steadying him between them.

"Raziel, talk to us, tell us what happened." She said, worried. Her hands were tingling where they touched him and her head was buzzing - it reminded her, more and more of a voice in her ear, whispering, yet too loud and too fast for her to understand.

Raziel shook his head again, his voice nothing more then a chocked wheeze when he tried to speak.

Suddenly the buzzing beneath her hands became burning - searing, shooting through her whole body, paralysing her. Kain cried out, letting go and jerking back away from them as Raziel froze, his head snapping back once again, eyes blazing bright as his body started to glow.

Brianne screamed - every nerve in her entire body felt like they were ripping apart. Her mind so full power, the whispering buzz now a scream, echoing within and without catapulting her consciousness to another state of awareness.

Lights danced in her vision as unseeing eyes watched the body before her collapse back onto her - she didn't see when they hit the cold earth, everything had already gone dark.

* * *

_Hear me!_

Soft light filtered through her eyelids and a cold breeze stroked its icy fingers over her face.

_I'm here!_

Something pressed down on top of her, unmoving, pinning her to frozen ground.

_Find me!_

That voice... _I hear you..._ Her head was buzzing... In her minds eye, hands reached, reaching into inky darkness.

_See me!_

Like a thick certain the dark parted onto a glowing landscape, flat, featureless - bright silver sky sitting in mirrored opposion to slightly darker earth.

_I'm here!_

Stepping forward she followed a path invisible but crystal clear to feet that trod lightly along its length, following where it lead.

_Find me!_

A figure darkened the horizon ahead, tattered wings and dark hair caught in a storm that was ready to tear him apart.

_Feel me!_

Hands reached forward again, untouched by the storm... _I'm here... _Blazing eyes turned to her - eyes that mirrored sky above and churned with the power of the storm... _I see you..._He reached for her, catching her hand in his own... _I feel you... _

_Don't let go..._

Around them the storm raged, spinning, twisting, writhing, cutting like thousands of knives, roaring like the rolling thunder that tore at mountain tops. She stepped forward.

_Help me..._

Into the eye of the storm and all was calm. He held her. The storm raged.

_Please..._

_I'm here..._

_Please..._

_I wont let go..._

_Help me..._

_I'm here..._

* * *

"_Peter? Lights off Peter."_

"_Yes Mommy."_

"_Goodnight"_

"_Night, night."_

"_See you tomorrow."_

_The door to his room closed and everything was enshrouded in darkness. Closing his eyes, the boy let his mind wonder, let his dreams flow and the dark of his room be filled in the light of imaginings... He dreamed..._

_Peter walks in the woods his grandpa had shown him, talks to animals who whisper secrets and stories in his ear. He watches stars dance while he spins round and round on the earth beneath them, laughing and shouting... He dreamed..._

_His grandpa came and speaks of family, told him of wars and friends lost and found. He tells him of adventure, of the little dog he kept as a boy, of the times he spent simply watching the hours seep past as he and his friend relaxed at the edge of a lake and fished... He dreamed..._

_Peter follows a road up to the big house, the sun shines down, warming everything it touched. He frowned - someone is crying. A woman stood in front of the house, she smiles at him, she tells him to go home... But Peter loves to explore... He dreamed..._

_The sun didn't shine as strong anymore - now it was cold. Someone, a young man is crying, a young woman holds his hand, she is crying too. They don't talk to Peter. The house is twisted now, it leans down towards him, it should have fall over but it doesn't. The grass on the lawn looks pale and the statue of the angel that rests there is distorted - the hand held over its heart is twisted and clawed - its wings are cracked - it's upturned face is screaming... Peter dreamed..._

_Something in the woods calls out from among twisted trees stained green and blue - he follows. Towering trees, reaching too far into the sky surround him, he walks among them. The path vanishes from beneath his feet yet still he walks - he could still hear that voice. Up ahead something moves... Peter dreamed..._

_It sits, curled up beneath the trees. A wind that does not touch Peter stirs its hair and tugs at the broken wings that drape across the floor behind it. Like a broken Angel. Peter steps forward. It stood, clawed feet dragging on the hard earth as it slowly and painfully rose from the ground. It tuned. Baleful, burning eyes saw him... and pulled..._

_...Peter screamed..._

"_Morning. Time to get up, lazy bones." _

_Peter didn't answer._

"_Oi, come on. You'll be late for school."_

_Peter couldn't answer._

"_Peter? ...Peter?" _

_Peter wasn't home.

* * *

_

"Brianne!"

Brianne's eyes snapped open and she yelped when the first thing she saw was Kain. A slight sneer played about his lips before it vanished and he said, "Tell me what you saw."

"What, how-"

"Just talk, girl, what happened to him?"

"I, I..." Images flashed through her mind - a living nightmare - a boy named Peter...

Raziel was collapsed on top of her, his head tilted back on her shoulder, the weight of his torso pinning her down, his faced turned up towards the sky, his eyes closed... _A living nightmare_...

Looking back up at Kain, she said, her voice shaking, "I-I think we will have to take him to the hospital."

* * *

The winding road lay the other side of the hedge and Kain - in the guise of a human - stood the other side of the gate next to them. Brianne was sat with Raziel who was sprawled on the ground next to her. He hadn't come round since he had collapsed in the wood. 

Brianne watched him constantly, trying not to think. She felt sick.

Further down the road a she heard the rattle of a car as it crossed a cattle grate. She waited. As the sound of the engine became audible to her and she moved closer to the gate, finally taking her eyes off Raziel to watch Kain.

She couldn't see his face as he watched the road, then step forward so his feet were on the edge of the tarmac. The car comes into view at a rise in the road ahead before vanishing from sight again and Brianne didn't know if she wanted it to come any closer or not.

Rounding the final bend the car come into view again as it crossed the little bridge that spaned the stream as it continues to wind its way away from Annabel's home. As the car got closer and closer Brianne started to wonder just what it was that Kain had planned. Then, just when she was starting the think there had been some sort of mistake, the driver slammed on his brakes bringing the automobile to a screeching halt - it stopped with the drivers door directly in line with Kain.

Turning his back on the car Kain strode back through the gate and over to Raziel. Brianne got hastily to her feet as Kain swept his former lieutenant into his arm and made for the car. Brianne was about to protest that they couldn't let anyone see Raziel when she looked back at the driver of the car again. His face was white, wide eyes stared at the road ahead and he had a white knuckled grip on the wheel - he wasn't about to be paying much attention to Raziel anytime soon, or much else for that matter. Brianne contemplated that the games hadn't shown Kain using his mental prowess against anyone since the second Blood Omen game - if that talent of his hadn't faded but _grown_ over time, then what the hell was he capable of now?

Too late did Brianne think to help him with the car door but he managed it without her anyway - and did a good job of it too. The bulk of his form blocked her view has he arranged Raziel on the back seat of the car. When he was done he got up and walked around the car to the passenger door and opened it. He glared back at her where she was still rooted to the spot, "What are you waiting for, girl, get in!"

She walked towards the open back door or the car, looking at Raziel more then anything else; Kain had set him at the far side of the seat on his side with his legs coming off the seat in much the same way a person would look if the had been sat up then fallen to the side in sleep. There was very little room for her in there, it was only a small car.

"Get in, Brianne," he growled at her from where he still stood watching her over the roof of the car.

She didn't even look at him just swallowed around nothing and started to ease herself into the car. Turns out she had overestimated it when she had first thought there wouldn't be much room for her in the back - there wasn't enough room at all, not without sitting on some part of Raziel's anatomy anyway. She hesitated - she simply didn't want to touch him again.

"We don't have all day." Kain snapped from where he now sat next to the stone-still driver.

She glanced up at him then back at Raziel's prone form - after that _vision_ she was more afraid of Raziel then Kain now, even unconscious.

"Are you really willing to leave him - _them _- in this state?"

_Bastard... _Of course she couldn't - even if it was just Raziel she couldn't - and she certainly couldn't leave that boy, Peter, like this.

Reaching out with trembling hands she carefully took hold of Raziels and slipped and arm around his neck. She lifted him up a little and shuffled herself sideways until she was far enough into the car that she could close the door then let him down again so his head rested on her lap.

_Breath Brianne, you have already set a new record for the number of times a girl can fall unconscious in a given amount of time, no need to top that..._

She let out the breath she had been holding. Her skin still tingled where she touched him, but only a little, just enough to be noticeable - in other circumstances it would almost be a pleasant sensation.

Kain pulled the door next to him shut and almost instantly the car started forward. Brianne almost forgot to breath again - With Kain in control of the driver, could the driver still drive?

A few turns down the road and she allowed herself to relax a little when it became apparent that they weren't going to go tearing off the road and through the hedgerows - either Kain was an unnaturally good driver or the guy behind the wheel wasn't completely 'dominated', more like under the power of suggestion, still able to use his normal skills and abilities. Somehow the latter seemed more probable...

Brianne fixed her gaze out the window - doing her damnedest to ignore Raziel; despite what she had seen and felt before she had seen Peter in her vision, she wasn't mentally prepared to face Raziel yet, or even think about him.

It felt like a very long journey, going to the hospital...

* * *

TBC 


	9. Purge

They Wouldn't Believe You

Disclaimer: I don't want them, I may have once before but I have learned my lesson... Seriously! ... Oh don't look at me like that – I'm not joking! ... What!

AN: Sorry if I have messed up on protocol in all the hospital parts - I personally avoid hospitals like the plague and have never even sat down to watch a full length hospital drama or film. I am not a fan of hospitals lol.

AN 2nd: Wow! Lol, you people really know how flatter a girl, don't you? You have no idea how much of a moral boost your reviews have been... still, on the flip side it doesn't half make me worry that every new chapter I post wont live up to expectations! Talk about motivation!

Last but not least, thanks to **Ananke Adrasteia**, who helped me though a couple of dodgy spots in this chapter.

Chapter 9: Purge

Brianne watched the trees and fields go past as the little car flew down the road. She wanted to be able to make her mind go blank and just think of nothing but she was plagued by memories of the vision. The first part really had felt like a vision but the second part, most of it anyway, had felt more like a memory - not one of hers, or even one of Raziel's, therefore it had to have been what the boy, Peter, remembered.

Brianne was still puzzling out what it all meant in her head, Raziel wasn't a _dream_ eater - and he had definitely absorbed Peter's soul. Vaguely, Brianne tried to call up a memory of something she had read in a book, something to do with dreamers wandering about the spirit world... she made a mental note to look it up when she got home - _if_ she ever got home...

As the trees flashed past, she made a determined effort _not_ to think about what might happen next - if she thought about that too much, she feared she might work herself into a panic. Yet that did not stop her thinking about the past and everything that had already happened. Not surprisingly, in regards to the last few of days, it was the topic of Raziel that caused her the most confusion. To begin with, he had been by far the most friendly towards her, between him and Kain. Then, things had shifted with him in the insanity after his encounter with the shade, Sesdoras, and now this... That vision, the later part, had planted a deep-rooted terror in her heart, of what he was and what he was capable of and she feared that it could make things much more difficult for her later. It was the kind of fear that danced a knife's edge away from blind, uncontrollable panic; even just sitting here with him was taking a fair measure of self-control for her to not open the door and jump out of the moving car, just to be away from him. And yet... Contrary to all that was the memory of how he had treated her thus far, the consideration he had shown for her welfare – not to mention the bizarre, if slightly disturbing, 'episode' in the forest after his memory of the Reaver had resurfaced...

She sighed softly to herself: confused didn't even begin to cover her feelings towards him. She glanced down at where his head rested in her lap and froze, staring dumbly at where her hand come to rest gently among his soft black hair. It_ was_ soft, silken even, and certainly the only part of him that could ever be described as such... yet there was something odd about it, the feel of his hair, that she couldn't put her finger on... metaphorically speaking that is. She watched her hand as though it were not her own – its long fingers wound slowly through his ebony locks, the dark strands slipped easily around them, flowing almost like water...

_Like water?_

The car jumped slightly as it went over a pothole in the road and Brianne was jolted out of her daze. She gasped and pulled her hand away as though shocked. She quickly turned back to the window, her eyes wide and brought her hands up in front of her chest, one rubbing harshly over the other where she had touched him. The feel of him still echoed softly in her skin.

Her eyes flickered quickly to the front of the car where Kain sat disguised in human form next to the driver. If he had noticed anything amiss then he certainly wasn't showing it. She fixed her eyes on the window again, adrenaline playing havoc with her breathing as she felt something akin to a sob threaten to well up within her and she fought to keep it down.

_Breathe, just breathe... breathe..._

It was a few minutes before she was able to calm herself down again.

------------------------------------

The town had just come into view as they crossed over a hill when Kain spoke up for the first time since they had started on the road.

"Why now? Why here?"

"W-what?"

"Raziel was not troubled by this in Nosgoth - I would have known if he was. So why now?"

"I don't kn-"

" -you know more then you think," he said, turning round in his seat to look at her. "In matters relating to Raziel, as he now exists, you may even know more then I do, and I have spent _centuries_ learning all I can in preparation. So why now?" Brianne glanced at their driver, uncertain if it was appropriate to talk like this. Kain saw her look and said, calmly, "He is not listening. What do you know, Brianne?" he pressed, "What could have caused this?"

Brianne racked her brains trying to think - something about the way Kain was looking at her made her distinctly uncomfortable and if answers would stop him looking at her like that then she would do all she could to get them for him.

"Well, there is the Reaver..."

"No, it's not that."

"How would you know?" she asked, making damn certain that her tone was as far from offensive or arrogant as possible - simple curiosity, nothing more.

"Trust me. What else?"

"Er..." What else was there? Kain was right in that something must have triggered whatever had happened to Raziel - why attempting to feed on one soul would do this to him. Could it simply be because he was in a different world now? No, that was too simple - and she had seen it in the vision; the closer to Raziel that Peter had gotten, the more like the spectral realm of Nosgoth everything had become. Feeding... something to do with Raziel's feeding...

Brianne's head hit the back of the seat in frustration and concentration - she did know something, something she was missing, something so obvious that she would be kicking herself about it later for not remembering...

_Basics, Brianne, look at the most obvious... Raziel tried to feed on a soul but something went wrong... It was like... like an overload! Yes, like he had been overwhelmed by it!_ _But an overload... too high a dose... from one soul? There was nothing particularly powerful about Peter, was there?_

She knew the answer to that from her vision - Peter was just an ordinary boy. Yet Raziel had absorbed the souls of powerful vampires and demons in the past; there was no reason for him to be knocked out by a simple boy...

_Ok, ok, so what about Nosgoth... Come on Bree, you know this... Right, so Raziel feeds on souls... Duh, yeah, state the obvious! ...What else?_

A little thought, a collection of snippets of memory from the games niggled at her...

_It can't be... can it?... Oh... Oh!_

"The Wheel!" _The Elder God, it has to be!_ Seeing Kain's expression, she quickly added, "The Oracle of the vampires!"

"What?" it was a statement of anger as much as it was a question, "what about it?"

Brianne scrabbled to gather her thoughts and come up with a respectable explanation. "Well, you see, in all the games - er, that is, since Raziel was resurrected at the bottom of the Abyss - right in the lap of that thing too - it kept insisting that Raziel was his 'good servant' like it owned him."

"Manipulative posturing perhaps..." Even Kain sounded uncertain of that.

"Maybe, but some of the things it said... In Def- er...well there was this one part, after Raziel learned about the Reaver, in the Underworld before he escaped he was refusing to feed and the Wheel – the Oracle – it kept saying things... saying how Raziel must devour the lost souls... the same things it had been saying from the start really, 'reave their souls and let the wheel of fate turn'... but Raziel, the things he was saying in return, calling it a 'voracious parasite'... saying that, not only would he feeding himself, but that he would be feeding _it, _too."

"Feedingit?" Brianne flinched at his almost growled statement - she didn't need to look at Kain's eyes that burned fiery red in a still human face to know he was _angry _at that revelation. As red faded back to gold and then to cold blue, he turned his troubled gaze down to where Raziel still lay, his head pillowed on her lap. Eventually, after a troubled and - for Brianne at least - uncomfortable silence, he said softly, "And now, without the influence of the Wheel... He has simply bitten off more then he can chew." Kain chuckled. Then, he suddenly grew serious again, "But how is he to feed?"

"He – well, with Sesdoras, he just took a wisp of her energy. And... I think he had done that before, with the humans in the Citadel..."

"Hm..." Though Brianne could still see signs of anger on his face, now he seemed more... contemplative? Sad? Before she had a chance to decide, he turned back in his seat, hiding his face as they finally reached the town.

Brianne looked back down at Raziel as the first houses whipped past. He still terrified her. She had seen and felt, second-hand admittedly, what it was like for the victims of his dark hunger - the experience had touched something deep and primal in her, so that while she had once almost started to enjoy his company, now it felt like she was sitting next to death itself. She hoped that this feeling would not last; he did seem to like her - why he might like her, she had no idea. Then there was what she had seen and felt before she had learned about Peter - the way Raziel had called to her in her vision, the way he had looked at her, pleaded with her...

Brianne shook her head and looked back out of the window, confused to the point of feeling upset by it.

They didn't have long to wait before they reached the hospital. Brianne half-expected to stop by the door but they parked a short way away instead. Kain was out of the car before their driver had stopped the engine, striding over to the door next to her. He pulled it open, nothing too dramatic but the movement was sharp enough to make her flinch.

"Get out."

Brianne lingered only long enough to make sure she didn't knock Raziel more then necessary. As soon as she was out of the way Kain lent down and began to gather the prone wraith in his arms.

"Kain, we can't let people see-" she cut off abruptly when Kain stepped back from the car and turned round to face her carrying not a ragged blue corpse like creature but a handsome looking man. A _very_ good-looking man, in fact. Brianne gapped at the figure in Kain's arms; his head was pillowed in the crook of Kain's neck, near-black locks stood up next to the brown hair that Kain currently sported. The well-balanced features of his face rested as though in sleep. His skin was pale, but not unnaturally so.

"But, but, how - what? He-"

Kain only shot her an angry look, which immediately silenced her.

_Right, just an illusion..._

Kain started to make his way to the hospital entrance, ignoring the car and its still open doors, the disguised Raziel in his arms. Brianne started to follow but a sound from the driver of the car made her stop and turn round. He was ghostly white, his eyes, now bright with awareness bulged in their sockets. While one hand clutched at his chest, the other was still gripping the driving wheel in front of him. His whole body convulsed as he slowly slumped forward.

"Kain!" she called back to the vampire, not quite knowing why as she watched helpless.

She looked back towards where he had been walking toward the hospital - he stopped, looked her way and said, sharply, "Leave him."

"But he-"

"Is of no further use."

"What? No further..." she suddenly felt cold again, "Did you...?"

"The control had been maintained too long, he was dead even as we entered the town. Now come."

"What! You can't - you can't leave him- you can't -"

"I already have."

"But-"

"Enough - it's too late for him. I can not maintain a dual illusion indefinitely, now move."

Brianne looked back at their unknown driver. His eyes were already becoming glassed - the hand that had gripped the wheel grew slack and slipped - a glint of gold caught her eye as it fell.

"Brianne!"

She turned away from the car, her eyes burning and vision blurring; looking at the two before her, in that instant all she wanted to do was run, far and fast away from this nightmare.

She had just watched a man die - watched a man be killed. A part of her, another part of her innocence perhaps, felt as though it had died with him.

"We have to finish what we came here to do, Brianne." Kain said, less sharply now but still just as urgent. Then, softer still, a different note entering his voice, he said, "He needs you."

Did he? Why? Who was she that made her so important? She was nobody.

"Raziel called to you in your vision, didn't he - and you answered him, Brianne. Are you now going to abandon him? Leave him to be torn apart from within?"

As he had torn others, destroyed others, innocents who had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Brianne didn't want to listen but Kain was still talking, still watching her intently, that persuasive tone in his voice wormed its way inside her head and _made_ her listen, pushing all the right buttons.

"So much has been taken from him so that History could receive its due - yet he has never lost hope, not truly. Hope in revenge, in justice, in his quest for answers, for victory and in the end, for the future of our world. Such a precious and terrible thing, hope, even when it is so small – and one of the few things he has left. Are you going to be the one to finally take that from him, Brianne? Will you strike the blow that will finally make him fall?"

For a long moment all she did was look at them. Raziel had called to her - what made all this worse was how the memory of his voice was still burned into her mind, how it clashed horribly with what she had seen after -

"_...Help me..."_

As though she were watching it from afar, she saw herself take a step towards them and another... Kain watched her, then turned back towards the hospital and she, like a puppet on a string, followed.

------------------------------------

Brianne followed meekly behind Kain as he strode confidently through the doors of the small hospital, the human-looking Raziel in his arms. Brianne could feel the eyes on them the instant they set foot in the lobby. Kain stopped in front of her and looked back and she stepped forward at his subtle command.

_When did I become the good little servant...?_

"Where is the boy?" Kain asked, quietly next to her.

"I," she gulped, bracing herself, "I don't know, exact-"

" - what!" He hissed, eyes becoming sharp and dangerous.

"That is, I don't know where he could be in this building but I think he is here."

"You _think?_"

"He couldn't wake up this morning. Any decent parent would have had him brought to a hospital." An uncomfortable thought came to her then and she added, perhaps unwisely, "unless..."

"Unless_, what_?" He snapped.

"Unless he has already been moved somewhere with better facilities." she finished with a shrug and a wince.

Kain had his cold eyes fixed on her, "Then let us hope that is not the case," he said with a slight snarl. His calculating gaze slid back to the rest of the room and the people in it, some of them sending them sideways glances, some openly staring at them. His sharp mind and keen eyes did not miss a thing. "So where do we begin?"

Brianne looked over at the desk, where one of the people working there was watching them curiously. "We could try asking."

Kain's eyes followed her gaze to the desk, "We could..." he said slowly, thoughtfully. Suddenly, he was striding towards the reception and Brianne took a moment to catch up with him.

He stopped at the desk and addressed the nurse there, "Excuse me, perhaps you can help me...?"

Brianne almost did a double take - gone was even the slightest trace of cruelty, of arrogance or danger from his voice and his face. His whole demeanour had changed in an instant; now he seemed concerned, worried even, a slightly worn yet nervous energy showed in his eyes - it was only their intensity which remained the same. It was a shocking transformation that brought yet another layer to his skill and power and made Brianne respect and fear him all the more.

The nurse responded to his charade instantly, smiling in a comforting way, her eyes flickering to where Raziel lay prone in his arms. "Yes, what seems to be the problem?"

"You see, miss," his eyes glanced over her name tag, so fast his speech didn't even miss a beat, "Weaver, I was supposed to be visiting my brother this afternoon for a family get-together. When I arrived however he wouldn't answer the door. I knew where the spare key was kept, so I let myself in and went to check the house. I - I found him lying in bed, still asleep - but I could not wake him no matter _what_ I tried. I waited and tried again but he still would not wake. Please, I don't know what is wrong, this - this isn't normal at all, I don't know what to do."

Brianne was fascinated. It was one of the most perfect displays of improvised acting she had ever seen - everything form the slightly higher pitch to his voce, the way he increased the speed towards the end, the pattern and depth of his breathing and the expressions on his face... even knowing the truth behind it all she still felt herself being drawn into his display.

If Brianne was fascinated then the nurse was utterly enthralled. Sympathy was written over every inch of her, "It's all right, sir, we will do what we can. What is your name, please?"

Brianne felt her nerves increase then, wondering what on earth he would say but she needn't have worried. "Grey. Simon Grey, and this is Michael. She is Natalie Fletcher."

_Simon? And Michael? Well, It's a small world, after all..._

"Thank you... Please, sit, I'll call ahead and get one of the doctors here. Sit, please." She gestured at the nearest bench in the waiting room.

Kain nodded to her, a fairly sharp motion that suggested nerves, utterly unlike his usual self. Again he took the lead, moving to sit down while she was still a few paces behind. He maintained the illusion of a worried family member, even as the nurse turned her back to go about her task. As Brianne sat next to him and glanced around the room again she understood why - those faces that had watched them with little more the curiosity before were sympathetic now.

Just when she was about to turn back to Kain and try to ask what he intended to do next, a woman stood close by and made her way over to them, hesitantly, as though she were unsure if she should be doing what she doing. Her face was lined with worry and her eyes were slightly red and puffy like one who had been crying. Her short brown hair was slightly mussed as were her clothes.

"E-excuse me?"

Kain's response was delayed and very human, "Oh, yes?"

"Um, forgive me for intruding, but I couldn't help but overhear what you said to the receptionist," she paused before blurting out suddenly, "Do you have any idea what happened? Any idea at all why he didn't wake?" Her eyes were wide with fear and worry and Brianne suddenly had an idea who this woman was.

Kain's voice was gentle, if a little guarded, "No, I only got to him just under two hours ago now, I have no idea what he was doing before then." The woman visibly deflated before them. Kain waited a beat, then asked, cautiously, "Why do you ask?"

She hesitated, then seemed to deflate even more. She sank into the seat next to Brianne. "Th-this morning my son, Peter, he didn't wake either. No one knows what's wrong, the doctors say it's as though he has gone into a coma but I don't see how - he was exactly the same this morning as when I saw him last night, I -" She paused again, her head in her hands like she was fighting tears. "I'm sorry, I just don't know what's wrong."

Startlingly gentle eyes regarded her as Kain said softly, "I'm sorry. Where is he right now?"

The woman waved her hand towards one of the doors, "He's upstairs, Blue wing, room three D something or other, the doctors are looking at him now - again!" the woman said the last word with something like a sob, her concern for her son written all over her. She turned her large hazel eyes towards Kain again, a new worry showing through. "Hay, you don't suppose that this could be some sort of disease do you? Some sort of infection? Where does your brother live?"

Kain was saved from answering when a white-coated doctor entered the room, his eyes fixing almost immediately onto them before he started to make his way forward. The woman next to them rose from the seat quickly and took a couple of steps towards to doctor, her expression almost begging him to be the herald of good news. He pulled her aside quickly and said something to her, too quiet for Brianne to make out. The woman nodded, her expression still worried and resigned. She glanced back at them briefly before she returned to her original seat.

The doctor came over to them, "I am doctor Parsons, and you are?"

"Simon Grey, and this is my brother, Michael."

"I see, and you are, miss?" the doctor asked then as the turned his decidedly neutral, and Brianne thought somewhat patronising, gaze towards her.

Brianne was just was just about to speak up when Kain answered for her, "This is Natalie," then he added, pointedly, "She's his fiancee."

_I'm his WHAT!_

Fortunately, the doctor didn't seem to notice her mouth working up and down like a water starved fish as she gawped at Kain, dumbfounded. He simply acknowledged Kain's words and turned his attention to Raziel, briefly, before he said, "I see. Follow me, please."

His detached manner irritated Brainne as they followed him through a set of double doors and she hoped he wouldn't be accompanying them for long.

"Lie him down on here please, sir." An assistant nurse said, gesturing to one of those beds on wheels Brianne had seen in hospitals before.

"No." Kain's frosty refusal, much more in keeping with his usual self, was enough to stop anyone in their tracks and the poor nurse that had addressed him looked like she had suddenly come face to face with a wild tiger.

Doctor Parsons turned to them and said in the infuriatingly even tone of his, "Now please sir-"

" - won't he just be transferred to another bed when we get there anyway?" Brianne interrupted - she had only just met him and she was already sick of him.

"Well yes -"

" - then why not let K-Simon carry him till we get there? It's just a couple of floors, right?"

"That's besides the point; on the trolley we can begin to examine him - we can't do that while Mr.Grey is carrying him."

"He is unconscious, not bleeding to death - there is little you can do here," Kain snapped.

The doctor sighed; he knew a losing battle when he saw one, "Fine, follow me." He took off down the corridor, leading the way towards a lift. Kain, who was still carrying Raziel, and Brianne followed behind.

As the lift door closed behind them the doctor finally paid some real attention to Brianne. "What's wrong with your hands?"

"What?" She looked down at where she had nervously been wringing her hands in front of her, rubbing her fingers over her palms in an almost angry fashion, "Oh..."

As the lift doors opened again onto the next floor and a nurse stepped in, the doctor took her hands and began examining them. "What happened?" He asked, almost sounding surprised.

"What do you -" she finally got a good look at them and gasped; the palms of her hands looked burned. The skin was red and covered in tiny blisters, from the heel of her hand, covering her entire palm and stretching right up to the tips of her fingers and thumbs. Nasty, dark purple grazes crisscrossed the skin. "Oh my... I... I don't know..."

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"No, no, it just itches, kinda..."

The doors opened again and they all stepped out of the lift, including the concerned-looking nurse who had joined them at the first floor.

"It looks like it's infected... Samantha, could you get her seen to, please?"

"Certainly -"

"- she stays with me," Kain interrupted them.

"Now really sir, that infection looks severe, if it were to spread..."

"It's not as serious as it looks, she has had it before." _What? Kain, what the hell are you playing at? _She sent him as sharp a look as she could muster from where she stood the other side of the doctor, whom surprisingly enough she happened to agree with - the marks on her hands looked nasty and worried her. "Besides," Kain continued, regardless, "can we not at least get her betrothed, my brother, settled before you have her whisked off to another part of the building? Surely a few more minutes..."

"Alright! Alright..." the doctor sighed, clearly growing impatient with the lack of cooperation, "This way..."

Kain sent her a look that said 'behave', loud and clear, as they followed after the doctor again. A couple of doors along Kain addressed the doctor again, "I spoke to a woman in reception. She said her son hadn't woken up this morning either, do you think there could be a connection?"

"We won't know until we have examined him," the doctor sent them a pointed look then but continued anyway, "but so far their stories seem to match."

They turned around another corridor, past more doors and more people.

"Where is he?"

"The boy? He is in the room at the end of the corridor, next to the one your brother will be in until they are moved to more permanent location. I can't allow you to see him though - not that there is anything _to_ see. For all intents and purposes he is in a deep coma - almost no activity at all, he is basically a vegetable."

Brianne felt her dislike for the doctor deepen. Kain may not have cared less but if his ruse had been true, if they had been a real family, then that comment would hardly have inspired hope and joy.

Suddenly, as though in defiance of any connection to the hapless boy the doctor was talking so carelessly about, Raziel started to stir.

It wasn't much, a slight twitch of his hand which had been hanging limp and a soft moan so quite Brianne only just heard it.

Her eyes widened and she glanced at the doctor ahead of them but he didn't look back. Beside her Kain tensed, his face had transformed back into his normal cold mask, the appearance of the worried family member cast aside while his narrowed eyes fixed on the doctor walking ahead of them.

_No, no, please Kain, don't hurt anyone, please, no more..._

With every step they took, Raziel seemed to become more animate; his hands clenched into fists, his lips pulled back from his teeth in a grimace, his breathing quickened... he looked like someone caught in a nightmare.

As they rounded another corner into a short stretch of corridor that ended in a dead end, the doctor, who still hadn't looked round at Raziel, said "I'm afraid I won't be able to allow you inside the room until after we have finished initial examinations -"

At that point Raziel finally made himself heard, crying out loud enough to startle both the doctor and Brianne. Brianne scuttled back away from them, pressing herself against the wall while the doctor span around, wide eyed, just in time to see Raziel convulse. A surge of energy washed over him in brilliant blue, forcing Kain to drop him - the instant contact was broken the illusion vanished and Raziel the wraith was visible again, his blazing eyes snapped open before he even hit the ground.

The doctor gaped at them consumed with horror, confusion and disbelief. Kain - who was still maintaining his illusionary appearance - darted forwards before the stunned doctor could utter a sound, backhanding him on the face, sending him slamming into the wall. A slight smear of blood marked the dented wall as he fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, Raziel was frantically trying to claw his way forward, his while body glowing as spikes of uncontrollable energy darted all over him. His eyes were completely wild as he finally found his feet and staggered past Kain, gaining speed. Kain followed him instantly, but made no move to stop him.

Brianne hesitated. Her eyes were fixed on the fallen doctor. The entire thing had taken seconds and Brianne was frozen to the spot in shock and fright.

"Brianne!"

She looked just in time to see Raziel disappear into one of the rooms, his claws leaving a sizable mark in the wood of the door frame, visible even from this distance.

Suddenly, a shout sounded back the way they came - all the commotion had not gone unnoticed. To Brianne it was like a kick start and she suddenly found herself racing down the corridor and into the room that Kain and Raziel had entered. She skidded to a stop as she entered just in time to see Raziel lurch towards a bed containing a young boy.

Brianne gasped - it was Peter, looking exactly as she had seen in that vision earlier.

Raziel's body was almost completely consumed in energy now and as he finally closed the space between him and Peter, it was as if a storm filled the room - excess energy spiked out to lash at the curtains, tear at paper and overload machines. His clawed hands latched onto the bed, shredding through the sheets and mattress as he fought to maintain upright.

Suddenly, just as Brianne was about to retreat out of the room and try her luck with the hospital staff, the storm died down and everything went unnaturally, disturbingly quite.

Brianne glanced questioningly at Kain, who stood a little further into the room, staring transfixed at the scene before them.

The energy flowing through Raziel exploded. Brianne was caught completely off guard and knocked back into the side of one of the beds. She looked up just in time to see a brilliant, ghostly humanoid shape, wreathed in energy, hovering above Raziel as he slowly sank towards the ground.

_Peter..._

The ghostly figure sank down towards the bed, the brilliant energy fading until, near invisible, it sank back into the body of the boy on the bed.

Brianne pulled herself to her feet and stepped closer to where Raziel was sprawled next to the bed. Despite her fear of him, she could not help but feel for him a little in that moment; far from the crazed and overpowered entity that he was but a couple of seconds ago, now he seemed almost vulnerable slumped there. Everything about him seemed diminished, from the subtle glow that always surrounded him to the blazing fire in his eyes - even the blue of his flesh looked slightly drained. In a word, he looked exhausted.

Outside the room, the commotion was building as hospital staff came across the unconscious doctor and raised the alarm.

"We have to leave, now." Kain said next to her, echoing her thoughts exactly.

Raziel made an effort to climb to his feed but it proved to be in vain as he collapsed again before he was even half way. Another moment of unspoken communication passed between him and Kain, though Brianne suspected that it had something to do with the fact that they would have to flee without him.

On the bed next to Raziel, Peter moaned in pain, his arms curling around his midriff in a protective gesture. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he _screamed_ - but just as the first note passed his lips, he began to choke, the air around his throat and chest shimmering as though it were hot. Brianne watched in horror as Kain constricted the air around the boy, his expression cold as the air shimmered around his outstretched hand. Brianne ran towards him - he couldn't kill Peter! He was just a boy!

"Stop!"

Surprised, Brianne faltered mid-step as Kain released Peter, who gasped for breath where he lay. Slowly, painfully, using the bars and supports close to the bed, Raziel pulled himself to his feet. "Leave him, Kain. Just go." His whole body shook and his speech was weak and unsteady as he fought to remain upright. Next to him, Peter's cries were gaining volume again.

The sounds in the hallway were louder and closer now. With a final look at Raziel, Kain suddenly turned his telekinesis against the window which exploded outwards, taking a fair section of the wall with it. Kain grabbed Brianne's arm, pulling her to him. Brianne looked at Raziel as she was hauled past him and for a moment their eyes locked.

The next few seconds were a blur as Raziel finally collapsed, his exhaustion overcoming him at last as his body dissolved into nothingness. Kain swept Brianne into his arms and took a huge leap from the building, making Brianne yelp at the sudden movement. He cleared an impossible distance in a single bound, landing on a building the other side of the road that ran past the hospital. As soon as his feet touched the roof he ran across, then dropped down the other side into an alley between buildings.

He let her down onto her feet and waited while she regained her balance. When she could walk again, he began to lead her slowly down the alley, keeping her arm looped around his. When they reached the end, he turned them away from the hospital and put his arm around her waist, looking for all the world like a man out for a casual stroll with his fiancée.

It was a couple of minutes before he spoke, the sound of sirens some way behind them.

"We will need a place to stay." Kain said at last. Brianne didn't answer - she could only think of one place they could go, yet that was also the last place she wanted either Kain or Raziel to be. When the silence dragged on too long he stopped, turning her to face him and said in a slightly sharper tone, "Brianne?"

"My home," it was as though the words had been forced from her mouth, "I could take you to my home."

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TBC

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AN: You can blame **Ananke Adrasteia** for the little Simon/Michael in-joke lol. Yes, I originally had Raziel with the Michael alias but it had nothing to do with the voice actor! It was during her read through that she picked up on the name and pointed it out to me and I couldn't help but go along with it - I think she was right in that Brianne needs an "I know something you don't know" even if it is over something so trivial.


End file.
